The KTUR Start-up Talks just wrapped up their second season with three events this semester. Experienced entrepreneurs shared their stories and their learnings to inspire students from the Upper Rhine region to found their own start-ups.
The KTUR Start-up Talks started in spring 2021 as an online event series to promote entrepreneurship specifically among PhD-students and postdocs. As the feedback to the event was very positive, the organizing team decided to continue with the series in autumn 2021. The target group changed to also include Master and Bachelor students from the Upper Rhine-region to have a bigger reach. Therefore, the event was renamed from KTUR PhD Talks to KTUR Start-up Talks to be more inclusive.
Three start-up talks were held this semester. In October, a founder from France and a founder from Germany shared their experiences on how to start a science-based start-up. 77 participants attended the speeches and the following discussion.
In November, social entrepreneurship was the topic, with two speakers from Germany and one from Switzerland, talking about how companies can focus on impact instead of solely profit. As Nicola Gepperth, one of the speakers, said at the end of her speech: Do what you love!
The third talk on 9 December focussed on the big question facing every start-up – how to get the money to begin. An entrepreneur from Switzerland and France, respectively, gave insights into their journeys and shared their learnings.
The feedback from the participants was very positive. They especially liked to get firsthand insights from people that went through the start-up journey and to be able to ask questions to them directly. The majority of students were doing their PhD, while they came from all three participating countries and from different universities.
Due to the positive feedback from the audience and the speakers, there are plans to continue with the KTUR Start-up talks in 2022.