The Challenge:
Universities are increasingly expected to contribute beyond research and teaching by helping transfer knowledge and technology into the economy. But measuring this “third mission” is difficult.
Data on startups, founders, funding, employment, and academic affiliations is fragmented across different sources, and the connections between founders, companies, and universities are rarely available in a single dataset.
The Solution:
The Technical University of Munich’s Chair for Strategy and Organisation conducted the 2026 deep dive study, Entrepreneurial Impact of Academic Institutions in the DACH Region, analyzing startups founded between 2014 and 2024.
Using commercial register data, startup and funding databases, public institutional records , in combination with Bright Data’s LinkedIn Profile dataset, the research team matched startups to academic institutions based on founders’ education or work experience.
The Impact:
The study provides a data-driven benchmark for university entrepreneurship across the DACH region, helping universities, policymakers, and ecosystem leaders better understand how academic institutions contribute to innovation and economic growth.
Key findings include:
- TU München, ETH Zürich, and Universität St. Gallen lead the DACH-region in startups founded by their (former) students or employees and also rank the highest for active startups
- Startups linked to TU München, WHU, Universität St. Gallen, and ETH Zürich are each associated with more than 20,000 jobs
- More than 40% of funded DACH startups raise less than €1 million, while only around 10% raise more than €20 million
- Founders launch on average six years after graduation, with 37% starting within two years
Dive into the Entrepreneurship Ranking report here.
