The Entrepreneurship Institute@ISM (EPR) has been promoting good ideas and the entrepreneurial spirit - including among students and alumni - since 2018. “Our aim as a private university was to make our contribution to the start-up scene in Germany,” says Ingo Böckenholt, President of the International School of Management (ISM). And what better way to do that than by promoting innovation during or immediately after your studies?
The ISM Start-up Competition, for example, has been held from the outset, awarding prizes once a year to outstanding business ideas and thus promoting their further development. This year it will take place on October 16. So far, over 150 exciting idea papers have been submitted and more than 20 prizes have been awarded. The inspiring guest lectures by well-known entrepreneurial personalities such as Carsten Maschmeyer, Béla Seebach and Judith Williams will be particularly memorable.
EmpowerHER: Promoting female entrepreneurial spirit
Since this year, the third-party funded project EmpowerHER, led by Sarah M. Siepelmeyer, has been running a program specifically for female students.
Ten female students, who were selected from a large number of applications from all ISM locations, are supported over several months in an early phase of brainstorming and founding a company through advice, mentoring and various events.
“The project was a great success for everyone involved,” summarizes Sarah Siepelmeyer. “The participants received numerous offers of support over the scholarship period. Many of the mentors enjoyed contributing and seeing how the future entrepreneurs developed over the course of the project.”
A competence center for entrepreneurship with three fields of action
Since 2018, the Entrepreneurship Institute @ISM has focused on three main areas of activity: Start-up consulting, research projects and events for the further education of students. With this strategic focus, the institute has developed into a competence center for entrepreneurship at ISM. The institute has been successful in all three fields of activity - not least by attracting third-party funding.
