The winners of the GFFU Startup Competition 2022!
GFFU Startup Competition
Let's get started with the GFFU Startup Competition 2023. The Society of Friends and Sponsors of the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf e. V. (GFFU) is looking for outstanding startup concepts that have already been developed and are about to enter the application stage. The aim of the GFFU Startup Competition is to support founders in the establishment and further development of their company.
Do you already have a polished business model? Then you have the chance to receive a scholarship or startup funding of € 50.000 over 12 months to turn your concept into reality.
The scholarship is aimed at students, graduates, employees of HHU, the affiliated institutes and the University Hospital Düsseldorf as well as former members of HHU ("applicants"). The prerequisite for the participation of former members is a successful degree from HHU, e.g. Bachelor's/Master's degree, state examination, doctorate or habilitation.
Individual and team applications are possible.
Funding is awarded to an applicant or a cooperating group of applicants with a particularly innovative and self-developed business concept, the content of which and its ability to be implemented are particularly convincing. The award decision is made by a jury consisting of six members of the GFFU board and three external members.
If the award decision is not made in favour of an individual applicant, the total scholarship will be divided among the members of the winning applicant team. The funding period is one year.
The scholarship has been awarded since 2017. The GFFU reserves the right to award the scholarship in the future and to decide to suspend it at any time.
The scholarship is endowed with 50.000 € and is paid on the basis of a grant agreement.
The scholarship serves
a. primarily to cover living expenses in the first year of implementation of the startup concept, as well as
b. to (partially) cover material, further training, implementation and similar expenses during this period.
Each applicant can submit his/her idea or concept (with a detailed business plan) until May 31st to:
Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf e.V.
Keyword: "GFFU Startup Competition"
Haus der Universität
Schadowplatz 14
40212 Düsseldorf
E-Mail:
The submitted business concept should be presented in writing with the help of a market and competition analysis, a concrete description of the organisation and team as well as a financial plan including a profit and loss account and cash flow plan. The business concept should comprise approx. 10 pages of text and the financial planning approx. 5-8 pages of text and tables.
The jury will make a free preselection from the applications received and invite the preselected applicants to a personal presentation (pitch) to the jury in the period from the beginning to the end of June 2023 (current planning). The winning concept will be determined from the personally presented business concepts.
The GFFU Startup Competition prize-giving ceremony and scholarship award / award ceremony will take place on October 25th.
More details and documents about the GFFU Startup Competition can be found at: unifreunde-duesseldorf.de/en