BMBF funding programme 'StartUpSecure'
As part of the “StartUpSecure” initiative, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) supports startups by students and academic staff in the field of IT security.
The Cube 5 team advises and supports founding teams and startups throughout Germany with the application and accompanies them throughout the entire process. Research teams from German universities or startups in the fields of IT security and cybersecurity can apply for “StartUpSecure”.
Entry into “StartUpSecure” can take place in two funding phases that are not dependent on one another:
The aim of the development phase (phase I) is to present the technical feasibility of a startup idea and to develop a business plan (“proof of concept”). Funding phase I assumes that the company has not yet been founded (entry in the commercial register).
The founding then takes place in phase I. In the founding phase (phase II), the focus is then on the market launch of the product or service. A concrete business model and corporate concept should demonstrate market maturity, which ensures successful implementation (“proof of technology”).
For StartUpSecure funding, startup projects must be compatible with topics in the federal government’s research framework program for IT security “Digital. Sicher. Souverän”.
Digital. Sicher. Souverän. 2021-2026
Here you can download the research programme “Digital. Sicher. Souverän. 2021-2026” as a PDF document:
Scientific and technical advisory board
Cube 5 is one of four competence and consulting centers of the BMBF’s “StartUpSecure” initiative in addition to Darmstadt (StartUpSecure ATHENE), Saarbrücken (CISPA) and Karlsruhe (KASTEL). Cube 5 has a scientific and technical advisory board for the BMBF funding program “StartUpSecure”. The five advisory board members have expertise in various areas of IT security and experience with “technology-intensive” start-ups. The committee takes a position on the technological and business aspects of the proposed start-up projects.
The Advisory Board consists of:
• Dr.-Ing. Christof Kortz, Head of Startup Partnerships| E.ON Innovation
• Christian Stüble, CTO Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity
• Dr.-Ing. Carsten Willems, CEO & Co-Founder VMRay
• Dr.-Ing. Thomas Wollinger, Innovation Manager Bochum Economic Development
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Zenger, CEO & Co-Founder PHYSEC
Cube 5 project manager Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christof Paar supports the committee as an advisory member.
Accelerator program “SpeedUp-Secure”
The “SpeedUpSecure” accelerator program is aimed at all StartUpSecure teams (phases I and II) and offers young companies a targeted training and mentoring program over a period of eight weeks. “SpeedUpSecure” is organized by the start-up incubator StartUpSecure ATHENE and supported by the partner incubators Cube 5 in Bochum, CISPA in Saarbrücken and StartUpSecure KASTEL in Karlsruhe. The participating teams are guided, advised and supported by a network of partners from the business world.
