Focused Energy and TU Darmstadt: How a University Builds Deep Tech Spin-Offs
Focused Energy, the laser fusion company spun out of TU Darmstadt, raised a $240 million Series A in May 2026. Thomas Walther, the university's Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, explains what had to exist first: a president willing to bend the rules, IP that costs a founder nothing upfront, and a transfer team that finds researchers before they think of founding.
What Is This About?
In episode 783, Jörn "Joe" Menninger talks to Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther, Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs at TU Darmstadt and professor of experimental physics there since 2002. The trigger is Focused Energy, the Darmstadt laser fusion spin-off. The real subject is the system behind it: HIGHEST, the IP for Shares model, the Company Builder, the Futury startup factory, and whether a German university can turn frontier research into global companies more than once.
The video goes live on Thursday, October 22nd, 2026
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The audio podcast goes live earlier the same day.
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Summary
TU Darmstadt says it has produced close to 300 startups in the last 10 to 15 years. Focused Energy is the one everyone now knows. According to Walther, it happened because the university became flexible when it mattered: President Tanja Brühl let co-founder Markus Roth reduce his university time from her first days in office, and the university handed over its IP in exchange for virtual shares instead of cash. TU Darmstadt then built that flexibility into a system. HIGHEST runs scouting, coaching, IP advice and investor introductions. HIGHEST GmbH runs a Company Builder with outside mentors. The Futury startup factory, run with Frankfurt School, Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Mainz, carries teams from the lab into the market. TU Darmstadt's own target inside Futury is 52 new startups a year by the end of the 5-year funding period.
Key Takeaways
IP for Shares removes the first cash barrier. The university takes virtual shares without voting rights for transferred IP. No licence fee upfront, no dilution of the founders, payment negotiated later, for example at exit.
Founders can still license or buy the IP. One recent startup bought it because its investor did not know the virtual-share model.
Focused Energy was the first IP for Shares case. Walther calls it a "high-risk, high-gain" situation in which the founders did not want to spend money on IP.
Scouting beats waiting. TU Darmstadt's Innovation Scouts screen publications and ask researchers what they are working on, before a company exists.
Walther's main lesson is flexibility. Every deep tech spin-off needs its own solution, from instrument access in the home lab to residence permits for international founders.
Introduction
Germany does not lack research. Walther says Europe does well on publications per scientist and still lags the U.S. on the companies built from that research. That gap is the subject of our pillar on research spin-offs and deep tech transfer in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and it belongs in the same series as our conversations with Nobel laureate Steven Chu, MIT's Robert Langer and QIAGEN co-founder Detlev Riesner.
Focused Energy makes the question concrete. Founded in 2021 by TU Darmstadt physicist Markus Roth and CEO Thomas Forner, it plans its first laser fusion power plant at the former Biblis nuclear site in southern Hesse. Its $240 million Series A, with RWE, Germany's Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation (SPRIND) and the EIC Fund among the investors, was described by the company as the largest fully secured Series A in the global fusion industry. Is that a lucky break, or the output of a process other universities can copy?
It Started With One Yes
The early decisions came before Walther became vice president. He credits the newly elected executive board under President Tanja Brühl. Within her first days in office, Roth asked to reduce his university time to work on his fusion idea. That was unusual at the time. Brühl agreed.
Walther's reasons for taking Roth seriously are about the science, not the pitch. Roth has worked for years in plasma physics, high-power lasers and target development, took part in laser fusion experiments around the world, and presents his ideas at conferences where peers can attack them. To Walther, that last point matters most: a deep tech company is only as strong as its scientific base, and founders who stop discussing their work with peers stop finding their flaws.
IP for Shares: The Deal That Kept the Cash in the Company
Most German universities license IP to spin-offs or sell it to them. Both take money out of a young company. TU Darmstadt added a third route before Walther took office: IP for Shares. The university transfers the IP and receives virtual shares in return, without voting rights. The cap table stays clean, founders are not diluted, and the university's payment moves into the future, for example to an exit.
According to Walther, Focused Energy was the first case. The founders wanted to start fast and did not want to spend money on IP. The model is now one of three options. Founders can still license or buy, and one recent startup bought its IP because its investor found the virtual-share structure unfamiliar. Science|Business has reported that the model, pioneered at TU Darmstadt, is now being tested across Germany.
Speed is the second argument. HIGHEST's CEO has founded several startups himself, and Walther repeats his rule: technology moves in jumps, and someone else probably had the same idea at the same time.
What HIGHEST Actually Does
HIGHEST is TU Darmstadt's startup and transfer center. Walther lists its work in plain terms:
Scouting: Innovation Scouts screen publications and visit research groups to find transferable technology early.
Assessment: how good is the technology, and what business model could carry it?
Funding: researchers know how to apply to the German Research Foundation (DFG), not where early business ideas get money. HIGHEST finds the programs, helps write applications and introduces business angels.
Pitch training: founders who give perfect conference talks often lose investors in the details.
Team building: typical teams are 2 engineers with no finance or marketing skills. HIGHEST helps complete them and mediates when co-founders fall out.
Around that sit Innovation Day, which Walther says draws 1,500 to 1,700 visitors a year, an annual Idea Competition with separate tracks for students and researchers, a spin-off label, the xchange prize, programs for female founders and entrepreneurship electives that TU Darmstadt wants in every study program.
The Company Builder and Futury
The Company Builder, run by HIGHEST GmbH and now in its second round, has 2 parts: mentoring by outside founders and executives, and introductions to investors. Mentors and investors are kept separate to avoid conflicts of interest. The goal is to get teams ready for money faster, from idea to first customer.
Futury takes over where the university stops. It is a startup factory owned by Frankfurt School of Finance & Management together with Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and TU Darmstadt, which each hold 15%. It was among the winners of the federal startup factory competition in 2025. The model has 3 phases: Innovate at the universities, Create at Futury with mentors, industry contacts and investment preparation, and Scale. A fund set up alongside Futury can provide early money. TU Darmstadt's own target is 52 new startups a year by the end of the 5-year funding period, roughly one a week.
If you sell to the founders, researchers and investors who build these companies, this is the audience Startuprad.io reaches every week. See how partnerships work.
Exception or Repeatable?
Walther's answer is "both." Fusion is exceptional: it needs very large amounts of money, more research and a long timeline. He expects Focused Energy's first plant around 2037 (the company has spoken of the mid-2030s). But he says TU Darmstadt has a pipeline of promising deep tech startups, and he expects more unicorns, while admitting that nobody can predict them.
The repeatable part is method, not fusion. Deep tech teams need continued access to the instruments in the research groups they came from. About 30% of TU Darmstadt's students come from abroad, and international founders need help with residence permits. Each case needs its own answer, and a university that runs transfer as an administrative routine will not find it.
Where Europe Loses the Companies
Walther names venture capital as one reason Europe lags, not the only one. The bigger problems in his view are a culture that sees risks before opportunities, and bureaucracy: company registration in Germany can take months, in Singapore minutes. Asked about HappyRobot, which was built with TUM and UnternehmerTUM support and then founded in San Francisco, he points to the size of the U.S. market and California's appetite for risk. His fixes: less bureaucracy, tax breaks for early-stage startups, faster public decisions and challenge-based funding.
His advice to other universities fits in 3 words: flexible, cooperative, fearless. Do not treat the university across town as a competitor. And his wish for the next 10 years is a German one: give more universities the autonomy TU Darmstadt received in 2005, when it became Germany's first autonomous university.
Quote Highlights
"Whatever you do in IP transfer, you want to be fast, because technology does not usually move linearly; it jumps." — Thomas Walther
"Flexibility is probably the most important lesson we learned." — Thomas Walther
"If you want to found a company in Germany, registration sometimes takes months. In Singapore, it is a matter of minutes." — Thomas Walther
What We Could and Could Not Verify
Confirmed from primary or reputable sources: Focused Energy's $240 million Series A (May 2026), its founders and founding year, the Biblis site plan, the IP4Shares virtual-share model, and Futury's ownership structure. Attributed to the guest and not independently verified: the "close to 300" startup count, Innovation Day attendance, the 30% international share, the 52-startups target and the 2037 plant date. Focused Energy's unicorn valuation has been reported in the press but not published by the company. Two short passages in the transcript are flagged for an audio check.
Conclusion
Focused Energy did not come from a funding program. It came from a series of yeses: to a professor who wanted time off for an idea, to a spin-off that could not pay for its IP, to a team that needed lab access after founding. TU Darmstadt is now trying to make those yeses routine through HIGHEST, the Company Builder and Futury. Whether that produces a second Focused Energy is the test to watch.
There Is More to This Story
For Entrepreneurs Vault members, I go one level deeper: how the IP for Shares terms compare with licensing and outright sale for a founder raising a first round. We look at what a virtual share costs a team at exit, why some investors still push for an outright IP purchase, and what that means for founders negotiating with their university. Members get the IP deal comparison.
Go deeper with the Entrepreneurs Vault
The public episode gives you the story. Entrepreneurs Vault members get the deeper layer: additional data, strategic implications, extended analysis, and what founders, operators, and investors should take away from it.
Join the Entrepreneurs Vault and get access to our members-only analysis:
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FAQ
What is IP for Shares at TU Darmstadt?
A spin-off receives the university's intellectual property without paying a licence fee upfront. In return, TU Darmstadt gets virtual shares without voting rights. Founders keep their cash and are not diluted, and the university is paid later, for example at an exit.
What is HIGHEST?
HIGHEST is TU Darmstadt's startup and transfer center. It scouts research for startup potential, assesses technologies and business models, finds funding, trains pitches, advises on IP and connects teams with business angels. HIGHEST GmbH runs the Company Builder.
Is Focused Energy a TU Darmstadt spin-off?
Yes. Focused Energy was founded in 2021 by TU Darmstadt physics professor Markus Roth and CEO Thomas Forner. It was the first company to use TU Darmstadt's IP for Shares model, according to Thomas Walther.
What is Futury?
Futury is the startup factory of the Rhine-Main region, owned by Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and TU Darmstadt. It takes university teams through 3 phases: Innovate, Create and Scale.
When does Focused Energy plan its first fusion power plant?
Focused Energy plans a laser fusion plant at the former Biblis nuclear site and has spoken of operation by the mid-2030s. Thomas Walther said in this interview that he expects it around 2037.
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John Tu and Germany: The Kingston Co-Founder Who Studied in Darmstadt
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European Scale-Up Gap: Why Startups Don't Become Tech Giants
Sources
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About the Author
Joern "Joe" Menninger is the founder of Startuprad.io, Europe's leading English-language startup media platform covering Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With 1,700+ podcast episodes across the franchise, Startuprad.io connects founders, investors, and corporate innovators across the region. Connect on LinkedIn
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Automated Transcript
Edited reading transcript. Fillers and false starts have been tightened for readability; the original recording timestamps are kept. Use the recording for exact quotations.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:00:00]:
Focused Energy is one of Europe's most visible deep tech spin-offs, but the more important story is not only the financing round. The real question is what had to exist before a company like this could emerge: scientific credibility, startup-friendly IP, a university willing to move fast, a transfer organization that works with researchers before the company exists, industry partners, investor readiness, and a system that helps scientists become company builders.
Today we are asking not only why Focused Energy matters, but something bigger: can German and European universities build repeatable systems that turn frontier research into globally relevant deep tech companies?
That is the real story behind Focused Energy, TU Darmstadt—the Technical University of Darmstadt—and HIGHEST.
Welcome to Startuprad.io, the English-language startup and technology intelligence platform covering Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with a strong focus on deep tech, venture capital, startup funding, scale-ups and the future of European innovation. I'm Joe Menninger, founder and host of Startuprad.io.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:01:24]:
Today's conversation sits at the intersection of frontier science, university innovation, deep tech company building and European technology sovereignty.
Our guest is Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther, Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs at TU Darmstadt. He is especially interesting for this conversation because he can look at the topic from several angles. He is not only responsible for innovation and international affairs at one of Germany's leading technical universities; he is also a scientist himself.
Professor Walther earned his doctorate in physics at the University of Zurich, spent several years at Texas A&M University as a researcher and assistant professor, and has been professor of experimental physics at TU Darmstadt since 2002. He has also taken on substantial institutional leadership roles, including positions in the Department of Physics and the Forum for Interdisciplinary Research.
That background matters because deep tech transfer is not simply about having a good idea and starting a company.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:02:39]:
It requires scientific credibility, an understanding of international research systems, institutional decision-making, and the ability to translate between researchers, founders, university leadership, investors, industry partners and policymakers.
That is why Professor Walther is such a relevant voice for this interview. TU Darmstadt has a long engineering tradition, including a pioneering role in electrical engineering. But today's conversation is not primarily a history lesson. The real focus is contemporary.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:03:15]:
It is about how a modern technical university identifies transferable research, supports scientific founders, structures intellectual property, connects teams with industry and investors, and builds a professional path from laboratory research to globally relevant companies.
We will use one specific example: Focused Energy. It is a fusion company that emerged from TU Darmstadt's ecosystem and has become one of Germany's most prominent deep tech examples.
Its recent financing round drew major attention, but the financing round is the trigger for this interview, not the core story. The core story is the spin-off methodology behind it.
How does the university know when a scientific idea can become a company? How early should researchers be supported? What makes intellectual property investable? Why is deep tech different from conventional startup support? What is the role of HIGHEST? How does a company builder work? How do industry partners and investors enter the process?
Most importantly, is Focused Energy an exceptional one-off case, or a proof point that TU Darmstadt and HIGHEST are building a repeatable deep tech transfer model?
The question matters far beyond Darmstadt. Germany and Europe have world-class research.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:04:47]:
That is not the main problem. The harder question is whether we can systematically translate scientific excellence into scalable international companies that attract capital, build teams, work with industry and compete globally.
That is why this interview belongs in the same Startuprad.io editorial lane as our conversations with leaders such as Steven Chu, Stanford professor, Nobel laureate and former U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Obama; Robert Langer of MIT, co-founder of Moderna; and Professor Detlev Riesner, co-founder of QIAGEN.
The common theme is not status; it is impact. How does science become technology? How does technology become a company? How does a company become part of Europe's industrial and economic future?
Professor Walther, sorry for the long introduction. Welcome to Startuprad.io.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:05:42]:
I feel very honored to be here. Thank you very much for having me.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:05:47]:
My pleasure. Before we get deep into TU Darmstadt, you have been at Texas A&M. What is your favorite memory from there? Do you still do Texas-style barbecue at home?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:06:05]:
I absolutely love Texas barbecue. I have very fond memories of Texas A&M. I had extremely nice and supportive colleagues. I really enjoyed my time there.
Overall, it was 7 years, and I often think back to that time. I still have friendships from those years. Great people, great state.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:06:34]:
I truly enjoyed my time there.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:06:41]:
Let us dive into what we want to talk about today. Focused Energy recently became one of the most visible deep tech spin-offs from Germany. They became a unicorn.
Beyond the financing round, what had to happen inside TU Darmstadt's ecosystem before a company like this could exist?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:07:08]:
First, I have to say that the beginnings of Focused Energy were before my time as vice president.
The decisive step, I think, was a newly elected executive board, especially with President Brühl at the helm. Right from the start, she understood how important support for spin-offs, startups and ideas of this kind is to making things happen, and to getting this strategic emphasis on the third mission going.
Especially in the case of Focused Energy, the essential part was flexibility: being willing to find solutions for emerging problems or the company's special needs.
Markus Roth is one of Focused Energy's co-founders and one of our professors in the physics department. On the first or second day Professor Brühl was in office, he came to her and said, "I have this idea. I want to work on it, and I want to reduce my time at the university."
This was not very common at the time, but Ms. Brühl—
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:08:35]:
—made it possible.
That flexibility, that understanding of the crucial role of universities as drivers of transformation, and that change in mindset were extremely important in making these initial steps possible.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:08:54]:
For our audience who are not familiar with Focused Energy: they are a unicorn-valued startup working on fusion energy, and they want to convert a former nuclear power plant site into a fusion energy plant. That is the short version.
We can already tease that we have a founder of Focused Energy lined up for another interview coming in December.
Taking a detour: you are a professor of experimental physics. Did you get to blow up a lot of stuff?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:09:43]:
My main focus is not blowing things up, but if you work in experimental physics, things break once in a while.
Fortunately, that usually does not involve a big explosion. We are not chemists, after all. We do break stuff sometimes. It is unfortunate and, most of the time, pretty expensive. But it is a lot of fun.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:10:09]:
It is also part of the process. Let us get back to Focused Energy. I just had to get that question out of my mind.
Looking back at its early phase, what made Focused Energy a serious spin-off candidate rather than just an exciting scientific idea?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:10:29]:
Solving the energy problem of the world, of mankind, is an important task. Fusion in general, and laser fusion in particular, promises to solve this problem. It is an intriguing idea.
You have to take these ideas especially seriously because Markus Roth, one of the company's co-founders, is an incredible scientist. He has worked for a long time on this subject and in the general areas of plasma physics, high-power lasers, applications, target development and related fields.
He has taken part in laser fusion experiments all over the world that led to some of the progress we have seen today.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:11:22]:
He has a lot of scientific expertise in the area. When he comes and tells you, "I can solve this problem," you have to take it seriously because his ideas have a solid scientific base.
They do not come out of the blue; they are based on years of experience in the field. You can trust his ideas, and you definitely have to listen to him.
That is why it was such an intriguing idea and something to take seriously.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:12:05]:
You have already touched on my next question.
What were the early indicators that Focused Energy combined 3 things: the credibility you have discussed, a relevant problem—the world's energy—and the potential to become a scalable company?
I think the last is of most interest to our audience here.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:12:31]:
Absolutely. I have talked about Markus's reputation in the scientific community. His ideas are presented at conferences, so he is open to discussion with his peers and to finding problems or challenges he has to solve.
In science, it is important to lay out your ideas, discuss them and learn how to improve things. That is one part.
Then there is the intriguing problem: solving mankind's energy problem once and for all. That is a huge step.
And the third question—you are absolutely correct—
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:13:24]:
—is the crucial part: how do you scale it up?
Markus's experience is very important here, because he knows what he can do. He is involved in all the necessary steps: targets, lasers, optics and so on.
When you talk to him—you have already teased your interview with him in December—you will find that he knows what he is talking about. He has well-thought-out ideas.
Not everything may already be thought through to the very end, but he certainly has a clear path to scaling things up. In that regard, all 3 ingredients are there.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:14:20]:
We should say that this is something new and experimental.
Professor Riesner said something great in his interview: "If there is a market, it is not innovation anymore." I think he has a point.
This is at the edge of science. There will be setbacks and unplanned delays, but they are part of the process.
You are working with TU Darmstadt. I think something like 20,000 to 50,000 people will listen to this interview.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:15:00]:
We can tell them that you have a very nice polo shirt with HIGHEST on it, and we are going into your spin-off methodology.
What has changed at TU Darmstadt in recent years that makes technology transfer more systematic and less dependent on coincidences?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:15:24]:
We have learned a lot through discussions with Focused Energy and all our startups. We have roughly—not quite—300 over the last 10 to 15 years.
We have made systematic, thoughtful changes to structures, responsibilities, personnel and the services we offer. HIGHEST is essentially our tech incubator for startups.
These changes also came about because President Brühl pointed out that we need a clear strategic vision to make innovation and startups an important goal for the university.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:16:21]:
My predecessor was the first Vice President for Innovation. Before that, innovation was part of research. It had emphasis, but not this degree of emphasis and impact.
Moving it to one specific person and combining it with international affairs also shows how innovation and internationalization go hand in hand. That was an important change in mindset, focus and strategy.
Once the executive board's mindset changes, the next step is to change the mindset of the whole TU Darmstadt community.
We developed our own strategy for the third mission and gave it a special name: xchange.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:17:24]:
That shows how unique and important it is to us. The next step is to offer more services, and that is where HIGHEST comes in.
We offer mentoring, coaching and consulting for students and researchers who say, "We have an idea and need help. Where could this go? Is it worth pursuing?"
HIGHEST helps with early consulting, finding the business model, and the steps toward the first funding, which is usually public funding.
There are many support structures in place. We have succeeded in spreading the word, so essentially the whole TU Darmstadt community knows where to go when they have—or think they have—an idea and want a sense of where it might lead.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:18:50]:
Public funding may be a little slow and less plentiful than private funding, but the big advantage is that you can get it very early through German policy tools.
It is also non-dilutive: they give you money without asking for a stake in the company, which makes it interesting for early-stage founders.
For your colleagues at other universities listening: how do you identify transferable technology inside the university, perhaps before the researchers themselves think of founding a company?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:19:32]:
Communication is vital. You have to get the message out that there is a service—HIGHEST in this case—ready to talk and listen to you.
We have various schemes and events to help. Innovation Day is a fair for TU Darmstadt's ideas, innovations and startups. It happens once a year and attracts about 1,500 to 1,700 people: investors, companies, startups and students discussing the newest ideas.
We also award a spin-off label to our best spin-offs.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:20:34]:
We have an xchange prize. These measures build reputation and awareness of innovation.
HIGHEST is well known within the university, and we now also have the Startup Factory Futury, which we may discuss later.
Researchers and professors are aware of these services, and quite a few already approach HIGHEST directly to ask whether their ideas could work.
We have also established Innovation Scouts. Their task is to screen publications and talk directly to our researchers.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:21:33]:
They approach researchers and ask, "What are you doing right now?" Through those conversations, they try to identify potential for new technologies and startup ideas and perhaps develop it.
It is a two-way street: communicating that these services and people are available, and having people approach scientists directly.
With students, there is still room for improvement. In engineering, many students have ideas and the mindset of wanting to invent something and perhaps found a company. In other programs, such as physics, that is not necessarily the obvious choice.
We are trying to involve students through entrepreneurship classes, to show them that founding a company might be a viable career path.
We also have an annual Idea Competition in 2 categories: students and researchers.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:23:08]:
The best ideas get a prize. This is another way to get the message out that we are a startup-friendly university.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:23:22]:
I think it is important for people deciding where to study to know who studied there and whether it is a startup-friendly university.
Interestingly, I found out a few weeks ago that a co-founder of Kingston, the computer memory company, is a TU Darmstadt graduate.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:23:51]:
Wow. I did not know that, actually.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:23:55]:
He earned a degree in 1970, which may have been a little before your time.
He had relatives in Germany, went there, studied at TU Darmstadt, and then went to the United States, where he co-founded Kingston, I believe.
We have an article about him on our website. Sorry, I am taking detours all the time.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:24:24]:
Let us go back to HIGHEST. You said there is a process: bringing people with interesting ideas who want to found companies into a system that helps them form those companies.
What is HIGHEST's role?
By the way, you have an interesting Innovation Day every year. I think it is in late November or early December. I have attended a few times.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:24:58]:
It is actually usually at the end of October.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:25:02]:
Usually the end of October. I remember one in December that was very good. You came out of the event and went to the Christmas market.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:25:10]:
Perfect timing, then.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:25:12]:
Absolutely perfect.
For your peers at universities who are struggling: how would we set up a company? We can call it HIGHEST, but what does this company do?
How does it help someone move from "I have an idea" to "I can make this into a viable company"?
Where do you support them, and where do you not? What have you deliberately left out?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:25:43]:
We are there to help and coach in virtually all aspects.
That includes technology assessment: how good is the technology, and what could be a viable business model?
We identify funding opportunities. Most researchers know how to get funding from DFG, the German Research Foundation, but not where to fund early business ideas.
We help write applications and provide pitch training, mentoring, IP advice and connections to business angels.
Sometimes people simply need encouragement, and we provide that too. When necessary, we even mediate within teams. We also coach them on whether their team is complete.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:27:01]:
Often it is 2 engineering students. They know their technology and the science behind their invention, but not much about marketing or finance. We coach them on finding people who complement the team.
We are all human, and sometimes things do not work on a personal level. We have experienced coaches who can help resolve these frictions. That is very helpful.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:27:44]:
I believe Focused Energy's unicorn status had an impact on the university as a whole.
I am particularly interested in how the perception of entrepreneurship has changed among students, doctoral candidates and researchers during your time there.
I believe everybody at TU Darmstadt likely knows about Focused Energy now. What was the path to that, and how did you go about it?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:28:22]:
Focused Energy's success in becoming a unicorn has boosted awareness of startups and spin-offs even more.
Overall, the perception of entrepreneurship is an ongoing process. There are always people who have not heard of HIGHEST. We pride ourselves on many people knowing about it, but that is exactly why we hold Innovation Day, the Idea Competition and other activities.
We are trying to establish entrepreneurship courses as electives in every study program, so students can get firsthand experience.
The Idea Competition is important because it has separate pathways for students and researchers.
We also offer specific support for female founders. As a technical university, we have fewer female students and even fewer female founders.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:29:44]:
We have special programs to address that.
We also have a very active student association that gets students directly involved in entrepreneurship, ideas and pitching.
Together, these different measures help raise awareness of entrepreneurship.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:30:19]:
What does it mean in practice to treat technology transfer as a strategic mission of the university rather than an administrative task?
I know you developed a particular model for bringing university IP into startups.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:30:42]:
When I hear "ancillary administrative task," I think of something that always follows one line: you do not go left or right.
The important thing is flexibility. Each startup has its own needs and particular technical challenges.
Our deep tech startups rely on complex, expensive technology and instruments, so they need continued access to the research groups they came from—for example, to use their instruments.
We have to find ways to make this happen. And you are right: IP is a very important factor.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:31:48]:
To make a deep tech startup work, it needs the IP, at least in most cases.
You want a model that is easy to handle, clearly structured, comprehensible to everybody, and ultimately a win-win for the university and the founders.
Our model is IP for Shares.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:32:24]:
I find that interesting because it is often a point of tension for prospective founders: how do I get the IP to use in my startup when I do not own it?
Many deep tech companies are built on that IP, but I feel it is still a bottleneck.
What did you change to make IP transfer more startup-friendly and investable, and what triggered that decision?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:33:12]:
The person in charge of HIGHEST, our CEO, has founded multiple startups himself. He knows firsthand how important IP is and how crucial timing is.
Whatever you do in IP transfer, you want to be fast, because technology does not usually move linearly; it jumps.
If you have a good idea, the chances are fairly high that someone else around the world had a similar idea at the same time.
Speed matters. The first thing we wanted was to speed up the whole process.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:34:03]:
Whatever we do with IP, we want it to be faster.
The 2 common models are licensing and selling the IP to the startup. Either takes money out of the company's liquidity.
Before I became vice president, we introduced IP for Shares. The university receives virtual shares in exchange for the transferred IP.
No funds have to be transferred to the university at that point, so the startup keeps the money. The cap table stays clean because these are only virtual shares.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:35:06]:
There is no dilution for the founders as well.
This is a good way to be fast without costing money initially. It is subject to negotiation when money starts flowing. For example, an exit can be one of the points at which money is transferred. Payment is shifted much further into the future.
I should add that we offer all 3 models: IP for Shares, licensing and selling. A startup might choose any of them, and we have had startups choose each of these possibilities.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:36:10]:
For instance, a startup recently had an investor who did not know IP for Shares and found it strange, so they chose to buy the IP.
The key is flexibility and speed. We try to create win-win situations for the startup and the university.
I think we are pretty good at this now. It seems all our startups are happy with the way we handle IP.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:36:45]:
It can be a slow and complicated process.
My understanding is that Focused Energy was the first case in which you applied IP for Shares. How did that happen? What was the model designed to solve?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:37:10]:
We wanted to be fast.
In the beginning, Focused Energy was—I would not say speculation—but a very high-risk, high-gain situation.
They wanted to get the company off the ground, and they did not want to spend money. That is why IP for Shares was the model designed for Focused Energy.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:37:53]:
Let us talk more about startups. There is a lot of startup consulting and advice on where to get public money.
Why is ordinary startup consulting not enough for the science-based deep tech founders you want to encourage?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:38:29]:
Deep tech founders are usually very good at their technology. They know everything about their systems.
But they may not know how to present it to an industry partner or investor because they lose themselves in the details. They can give a perfect talk at a scientific conference, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it does not convince an investor or business partner.
This is why consulting and pitch training are so important.
Some people are naturals: they know how to emotionally address the investor. Others do not know how to do that.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:39:43]:
Teams are often very diverse. Some have all 3 ingredients—finance, marketing and technology—while others do not.
Our university is international, with about 30% international students. They are usually very happy to found a company, and more likely to do so than a German student.
But a whole new set of problems can arise, such as their permit to stay here.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach. It is individual and requires flexibility in consulting.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:40:49]:
You really have to be flexible in what you offer and what individual founders need.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:40:58]:
You also have a company builder. Can you take us through a theoretical, brief company-building exercise?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:41:14]:
Sure. The Company Builder is in its second round, so it is still relatively young.
It is run by HIGHEST GmbH, which we founded alongside HIGHEST.
The Company Builder has essentially 2 parts. The first is an extensive mentoring program.
The mentors are not people from HIGHEST. They have years of experience founding successful startups or working in international companies. They have business backgrounds and know business models and pitching.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:42:11]:
They might say, "Your idea is great, but have you considered this application in this market?" They coach teams in that direction.
The second part is bringing them together with investors. The mentors and investors are not identical; we do not want conflicts of interest.
The idea is to get them ready for money faster: bridging the gap between a great idea, founding the company and reaching the first customer.
The Company Builder is designed to make that faster.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:43:06]:
In a moment, we move from the university's internal side of deep tech transfer to the external reality: industry partners, investors, market expectations, and the question every German university has to answer.
Can excellent research become globally relevant companies without losing momentum, ownership or value creation along the way?
This is where the conversation becomes bigger than Focused Energy. We will be right back after a short break.
Hey, guys, thanks for sticking around. This is an unusually long interview for Startuprad.io, but we decided to keep going. Thank you.
Let us talk about industry, investors and market reality. At what point should a deep tech team be exposed to industry partners and investors? Is there such a thing as too early?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:44:03]:
I do not think there is really a "too early."
Teams should know what the innovation is about and the possible direction in terms of business model and market. Once they do, as soon as possible is right.
We need NDAs in place so the parties can trust that knowledge received through these conversations will not be misused.
Industry partners can consider whether they could be the first customers, whether the business model works, and how far away market readiness is.
A scientist might say, "This is ready to use." In physics, speaking from my own experience, if a physicist makes something work, he says, "This is ready for market."
Engineers then say, "No, we need at least 2 or 3 years to make it into a viable product."
That is an important lesson for startups.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:45:30]:
Is my product or idea really market-ready?
Contact with investors and industry partners should happen as early as possible. All these contacts and meetings are lessons for startups.
They provide valuable input: what do we need to change in our pitch, in the market we target, and so on?
That is important.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:46:10]:
What role do industry partners play in translating scientific technology into market-relevant products and companies?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:46:24]:
They provide valuable input and ask founders questions: can your product do this or that? Is it suitable for this application?
They have a better view of the market as a whole, business models and scale-up pathways. What would be a good way to scale?
Milestone planning is important too. They can play a crucial role.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:47:02]:
We have already mentioned Futury.
How does it bridge the gap between the university phase and the post-university, market-driven phase, especially at the handoff between HIGHEST and Futury?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:47:20]:
Let me give some background first.
Futury is our startup factory in the Rhine-Main area, established in October 2025 within the federal program.
It is a joint endeavor between the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and the Rhine-Main Universities: the University of Frankfurt, the University of Mainz and TU Darmstadt.
Futury helps us bridge the gap into the post-university phase, leaving a purely research-oriented mindset behind and moving toward a business-driven environment focused on markets, customers, investors and, at the end of the startup journey, scaling.
The idea is to cover the entire journey, split into 3 phases: Innovate, Create and Scale.
Innovate is the universities' part. That is where HIGHEST sits for TU Darmstadt, with similar arrangements at the other universities.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:48:43]:
In Innovate, formats such as the Company Builder form the interface between universities and Futury.
In Create, Futury picks up the startups and guides them further, again with experienced mentors, industry networking and preparation for investment.
The next phase is Scale, where startups hopefully become grown-ups. The best case is that they go through all 3 stages.
To make that happen, Futury set up a fund alongside Futury itself, which can provide funding up to a [unclear in the recording].
We are in a convenient position to provide some seed money for startups.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:49:44]:
Our goal as TU Darmstadt within the Futury ecosystem is to create 52 new startups per year by the end of the 5-year period, when Futury's funding is over.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:50:02]:
You want to start a startup, on average, every week of the year?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:50:07]:
Correct. That is the goal.
The important part of Futury is that, together with the universities, we cover the entire journey: from the earliest university idea to initial coaching, funding and founding, then industry partners and networking opportunities, and ultimately scaling and growth.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:50:38]:
Let us move to part 6 of our interview. I will try to tease out of you whether Focused Energy is repeatable.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:50:48]:
I certainly hope so.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:50:52]:
Okay, this part of the interview is done. We are good.
Is Focused Energy an exception, or evidence that Darmstadt can systematically produce more internationally relevant deep tech companies? What do you think?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:51:07]:
In a way, both.
Why is it an exception? We covered this in the beginning: solving mankind's energy problem is a huge challenge.
As we discussed, it will take time before Focused Energy's ideas become a product—a laser fusion power plant.
If I remember correctly, Focused Energy is planning for around 2037 to have its first laser-fusion-based power plant. That is a long time.
A lot of money is needed to cover the necessary steps, and in some cases further research is still needed. In that regard, it is exceptional.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:52:13]:
It is a huge problem requiring huge amounts of money and still some research.
On the other hand, we have a pipeline of promising deep tech startups with the opportunity to grow into something very big, including more unicorns.
Predicting unicorns is difficult. But our researchers at TU Darmstadt are incredibly creative and ingenious, so I am pretty sure similar success can be repeated.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:52:59]:
That is interesting.
Which parts of the Focused Energy story are unique to fusion, and which are repeatable for other deep tech spin-offs?
What methodology have you learned from spinning off Focused Energy?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:53:35]:
Fusion is a special case because it requires a lot of money and time.
But each of our deep tech startups, including the promising ones I mentioned, is different.
You need flexibility. That is the key. You have to support different startups and ideas in completely different areas.
Each needs an individual solution. What matters is being willing to find that solution.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:54:35]:
Flexibility is probably the most important lesson we learned.
Another important point, which we touched on, is that every deep tech startup has a scientific base. That base has to be solid. If it is not, it will never scale; it is bound to fail.
Our researchers and founders must remain willing to discuss their work with peers, find possible flaws and develop solutions.
That is really important.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:55:34]:
Flexibility in German public institutions is a great idea. I really hope you can make it work.
You have mentioned promising startups in the current cohort. What did you learn from Focused Energy and this next cohort that can help the next generation of deep tech founders?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:56:06]:
Believe in your ideas. Be confident in your ability to overcome obstacles and challenges, and work hard to make your dreams a reality.
Also—and Markus Roth is particularly good at this—assemble the right team.
These deep tech startups only work if the team is good.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:56:36]:
You cannot do it alone, especially with a topic as big as fusion energy.
Let us go to the last part I prepared: the European Deep Tech Transfer Challenge.
We have established that German and European universities produce excellent science. For example, a German research institute came up with MP3.
Why has translating that into globally scaled companies often been harder than the science itself?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:57:16]:
That is an excellent question.
Europe and Germany do an excellent job in terms of scientific publications per scientist. But when you look at the companies originating from those results, we lag behind globally, especially compared with the U.S. and some other countries.
One explanation—but certainly not the only one—is the availability of venture capital. Deep tech is expensive, and you need enough venture capital.
What I think is even more critical is concentrating on opportunities rather than risks. Society needs that shift in mindset.
We need to embrace new technologies.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:58:30]:
Embrace opportunities and run with them, rather than thinking only about risks.
Obviously, you have to try to minimize risk. I am not saying everyone should found a company without a clear idea and burn money. But you must be willing to take risks sometimes; otherwise, you will never change anything.
Bureaucracy is an overarching theme, especially in Germany and across Europe.
If you want to found a company in Germany, registration sometimes takes months. In Singapore, it is a matter of minutes.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [00:59:24]:
That needs to change.
Innovation, entrepreneurship and startups must be seen as important economic and societal benefits.
There is already some change in mindset: innovation has become more important, and the number of companies being founded is increasing.
That is a very good development, but we really need to reduce bureaucracy.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [01:00:06]:
You have talked about venture capital. Is that really the biggest bottleneck, or is it the early institutional process before companies are even fundable?
We discussed IP for Shares, for example.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:00:24]:
You are certainly right, and you have a good point. Venture capital is not all of it.
In the beginning, we need to be faster. IP transfer needs to be fast, and potential founders need efficient, good coaching. There is no question about that.
But in the end, if you really want to scale, you need venture capital.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:00:52]:
You are right: it is not the only thing.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [01:00:55]:
Many people have been with us for more than an hour, and we have been recording for more than an hour.
What do German and European universities need to change if more cutting-edge scientific achievements are to become scalable international companies?
TU Darmstadt is not the only one doing this. ETH and Cambridge, for example, are also doing a very good job.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:01:21]:
In my opinion, there are essentially 3 things: be flexible; be cooperative; and be positive, creative and fearless.
To illustrate: each startup is different, so be open to solutions in every case. Generate a mindset of empowerment rather than finding reasons not to act. That is the flexible part.
Cooperative means working together, joining forces and being supportive. Do not look at another university in the same town as competition.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:02:03]:
Work together and share resources. That is important.
For the fearless, creative and positive part: take on challenges, and consider competition an inspiration rather than a threat.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [01:02:28]:
One of my last questions was inspired by HappyRobot, a unicorn founded in San Francisco, although the team did a lot of work at TU Munich and UnternehmerTUM.
They received EXIST funding, worked there, then went to San Francisco to start the company.
How do you prevent deep tech companies from becoming international too early in a way that moves too much value creation abroad?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:03:01]:
Why do they move to the U.S.? There is a huge market, but California's spirit is also hard to beat. People are upfront, positive and willing to take risks.
We need to create similar opportunities in Europe: reduce bureaucracy, perhaps offer tax breaks in startups' early stages, and provide frameworks for quick decisions, fast response times and challenge-based funding.
The U.S. usually decides quickly. Here, if you want to try something special, it can take ages to get the green light.
We need less bureaucracy and faster decisions in the public realm, so founders can do what they do best—be creative—rather than spend too much time on bureaucracy.
Some bureaucracy is good.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:04:30]:
We do not want the Wild West here. But this needs to change.
In my opinion, there are too many rules, including too many that do not make sense.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [01:04:47]:
What role should universities play in Europe's technology sovereignty?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:04:54]:
They can, must and, I am sure, will play a crucial role.
Universities have the advantage that, by their nature, they do not have to produce products or make a profit from the very beginning. They can do science, and excellent science generates innovation.
Universities are at the forefront of scientific and technological breakthroughs. They can ignite innovative thinking and initiate societal change, including through educating students and the younger generation.
That is what universities are good at.
Most are open to the best and brightest minds from all over the world. As I mentioned, TU Darmstadt is very international.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:06:05]:
They are breeding grounds for disruptive ideas and technology.
I am convinced they must and will play a very active role in this transformation.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [01:06:23]:
Our last closing question, after our last closing question.
After 1 hour and 10 minutes here on record, thank you very much.
If we look 10 years ahead, what should a leading technical university be able to do that it could not do 10 years ago?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:06:44]:
This may be a somewhat German answer.
TU Darmstadt became Germany's first autonomous university in 2005. That means we can decide many things ourselves without involving the ministry.
This comes with a lot of freedom, but also great responsibility. In my view, we have done an excellent job balancing freedom and responsibility and have always been thoughtful in our decisions.
Universities, especially technical universities, can benefit from the flexibility of autonomous status.
On my wish list, I would like this model to be transferred to more universities.
A lot has happened since 2005, and many universities have gained more freedom. But this is important because it enabled us to act autonomously, independently and in ways tailored to our needs.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:08:15]:
Reaching autonomy in 2005 was crucial.
Funding must also be sufficient to give students, PhD students and postdocs the best possible framework.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [01:08:35]:
I agree. Professor Walther, thank you for joining us on Startuprad.io.
The key takeaway is that deep tech spin-offs do not happen because excellent science exists alone.
They happen when science is surrounded by the right system: one that identifies transferable research early, supports researchers before a company exists, makes intellectual property investable, brings in industry, capital and market reality, and treats technology transfer as a strategic university mission rather than an administrative side function.
Focused Energy may be exceptional, but the more important question is whether it is accidental.
What we have heard is that TU Darmstadt and HIGHEST are trying to increase the probability that frontier science becomes internationally relevant deep tech companies, repeatedly.
For founders, investors, university leaders and policymakers across Europe, that is the real issue. We do not lack scientific excellence.
Jörn "Joe" Menninger | Founder, Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [01:09:50]:
The decisive question is whether we can build the institutions, incentives, IP structures and capital pathways to turn that excellence into global companies.
If you found this conversation valuable, follow us in your podcast app, subscribe on YouTube, and share it with someone working in deep tech, university transfer, venture capital or European innovation policy.
I would especially like to ask: where do you think Europe's biggest deep tech transfer bottleneck is—IP, capital, culture, speed or market access?
Leave a comment wherever you are watching or listening.
This is Startuprad.io, where professionals get the signal. Thank you very much for listening.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther | Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, TU Darmstadt [01:10:38]:
Thank you.
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