Transfer NXTGN Startup Factory Succeeds in International Ranking
19 February 2026
New innovation platform with major involvement from Heidelberg University ranks among Europe’s most important start-up hubs
In its first year, the NXTGN Startup Factory is already among Europe’s most important start-up hubs. As an innovation platform, the strategic grouping of Baden-Württemberg universities and private-sector partners, with substantial involvement from Heidelberg University, ranks 13th in a Financial Times ranking. This makes the consortium the highest-ranked new entrant from Germany in the “Europe’s Leading Start-up Hubs 2026” list, which features a total of 180 start-up ecosystems. In the European technology category, NXTGN is ranked second, making it one of Europe’s leading platforms for deep-tech innovation.
“The excellent ranking confirms NXTGN’s successful strategic approach of specifically supporting research-based, technology-intensive start-ups in the deep-tech field,” emphasizes Prof. Dr Katja Patzel-Mattern, Vice-Rector for Innovation and Transfer at Heidelberg University. Identifying potential founders directly at the participating universities and providing them with intensive, on-site support has a significant impact, says Dr Raoul Haschke, team leader of Heidelberg University’s transfer agency hei_INNOVATION, which promotes the transfer of university research results into industry and society.
The NXTGN Startup Factory launched in July 2025 as one of ten federal “lighthouse” projects, with the aim of promoting technology-driven start-ups as a central point of contact. To achieve this, the participating universities are building links with the industrial SMEs and supporting start-ups throughout their development. NXTGN aims to accelerate the transfer of research results into practical application and to create new companies in future-oriented sectors across the state of Baden-Württemberg. Alongside Heidelberg University, the university partners in the NXTGN Startup Factory are the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University of Stuttgart, Ulm University and Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien).
The “Europe’s Leading Start-up Hubs” ranking is regarded as one of the most important international benchmarks for start-up ecosystems. Published annually by the Financial Times, it identifies Europe’s most significant start-up hubs. For the assessment, alumni who had taken part in a program at the respective hub, as well as external experts, were surveyed. The ranking also incorporates an analysis of successful start-ups that have emerged from a hub. For the NXTGN Startup Factory’s second place in the technology category – one of eight categories in the ranking – the market success of the start-ups supported by the consortium to date was a key factor.