About us
Since 2018, Cube 5 has been accompanying and supporting interested founders and startups in the fields of cybersecurity and IT security in every phase of development.
Cube 5 is based at the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security and the Faculty of Computer Science at 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 for success in the B2B sector. As one of four locations in Germany, Cube 5 supports highly innovative start-up projects and start-ups from the scientific context of IT security in the “StartUpSecure” funding program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Specially developed formats – e.g. the incubator “inCUBE” for early-stage start-up teams – expand the portfolio.
From the idea to business model development to company set-up: Cube 5 supports young entrepreneurs with start-up know-how, suitable offers and sustainable programs in every phase. A local to international highly developed ecosystem of companies and institutions in the fields 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: In 20 years of the institute’s history, more than 20 successful companies have been founded. Cybersecurity startup champions such as ESCRYPT, Edgeless Systems, VMRay or PHYSEC prove that Bochum and the entire Ruhr metropolitan region have developed into one of the most important contact points for the German and European startup scene for IT security in recent years.
On December 1, 2017, Cube 5 was launched alongside the Darmstadt (StartUpSecure ATHENE), Saarbrücken (CISPA) and Karlsruhe (KASTEL) sites as a startup incubator in the field of IT security under the “StartUpSecure” initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The official launch of Cube 5 took place on May 9, 2018, at the premises of ESCRYPT, one of the first spin-offs at HGI. The initial funding was provided in the context of the research framework program “Self-Determined and Secure in the Digital World 2015-2020”. Cube 5 will be funded with 1.5 million euros until 2024. This second, three-year funding phase will also serve to establish and consolidate Cube 5 as a permanent institution beyond 2024.
