About us
Since 2018 Cube 5 has been accompanying and supporting those interested in founding a company and startups in the areas of cybersecurity and IT security in every development phase.
Cube 5 is based at the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security and the Faculty of Computer Science at the Ruhr University and is at home in the university’s own Worldfactory Start-up Center (WSC). One focus of Cube 5 is on supporting spin-offs from research with prospects of success in the B2B sector. As one of four locations in Germany, Cube 5 oversees highly innovative start-up projects and startups from the scientific context of IT security nationwide in the “StartUpSecure” funding program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Specially developed formats – e.g. the inCUBE incubator for early-stage start-up teams – expand the portfolio.
From the idea through the development of the business model to the establishment of the company: Cube 5 supports young entrepreneurs with start-up know-how, suitable offers and sustainable programs in every phase. A locally to internationally highly developed ecosystem of companies and institutions in the areas of IT security and cybersecurity offers the ideal breeding ground for innovative business ideas and young companies.
The Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security and Cube 5 can look back on a long founding tradition: over 20 successful companies have been founded in the 20-year history of the institute. Cybersecurity startup champions such as ESCRYPT, Edgeless Systems, VMRay or PHYSEC show that Bochum and the entire Ruhr metropolitan region have developed into one of the most important contact points for IT security in the German and European start-up scene in recent years.
On December 1 2017, Cube 5 started alongside the locations in Darmstadt (StartUpSecure ATHENE), Saarbrücken (CISPA) and Karlsruhe (KASTEL) as a start-up incubator in the field of IT security under the “StartUpSecure” initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The official starting signal for Cube 5 was given on May 9, 2018 in the premises of ESCRYPT, one of the first spin-offs at the HGI. The first funding took place in the context of the research framework program „Selbstbestimmt und sicher in der digitalen Welt 2015-2020“. Cube 5 will be funded with 1.5 million euros until 2024. This second, three-year funding phase should also serve to establish and consolidate Cube 5 as a permanent institution beyond 2024.
