Entrepreneurship at HHL
Empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs
Ready to launch your entrepreneurial journey? Learn the skills and nurture your big ideas at HHL – one of Europe’s top business schools for startups, with an alumni lineup that includes five German unicorns (Trivago, About You, Lieferando, Auto1, and IONIQ).
Our innovative English-language courses relating to entrepreneurship and innovation management set you up for success. You’ll benefit from hands-on mentorship, entrepreneurial insights, and exciting industry connections through our prestigious alumni and business network.
Numbers we are proud of
Stifterverband 2022
HHL alumni statistics
HHL Survey 2023
HHL Survey 2022
Dedicated to unlocking the potential of the world’s best entrepreneurs
We actively support our students in their entrepreneurial ambitions because we deeply value the difference entrepreneurs make in our society. When we foster innovation, we move entire economies forward. Entrepreneurs with fresh ideas are the ultimate wealth creators, creating jobs and changing society with great ideas.
We measure our success by the success of our students. And with over 300 startups founded and more than 40,000 jobs created by our alumni, we’re proud of our far-reaching impact.
#1 Entrepreneurial University in Germany – for the fifth time in a row
HHL is proud to be recognized as one of Germany’s top places for aspiring entrepreneurs. Also occupying the top spot in 2012, 2013, 2013 and 2018, HHL enjoys the top spot among small universities in the Startup Radar ranking published by the Founder’s Association for German Science.
An entrepreneurial curriculum designed to unlock potential
HHL equips students with entrepreneurial skills through our holistic approach to entrepreneurial leadership and the fundamentals of general management.
Our curriculum equips both Master in Management and MBA students with the tools they need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and start putting their ideas into practice. Students learn how to understand customer needs, identify business opportunities, build a winning business plan, and successfully implement disruptive technologies that turn whole markets on their heads.
Creating a foundation for success: Entrepreneurship-driven course highlights
Ready for a challenge: Problem-solving and communication skills
Want to learn how to tackle new and complex management problems head-on? This course has you covered. You’ll gain a toolbox of methods and instruments to identify, structure, analyze, and communicate solutions with expert finesse. This course ensures you’re set up to master every challenge with confidence.
Planning for success: How to launch your digital venture
This course takes you through the first steps to transforming your blossoming business ideas into thriving opportunities. You’ll learn how to succeed on schedule with proper business planning, how to compose and structure an effective pitch deck, how to navigate the legal aspects of starting a business, and how to present a winning business plan based on essential tools and methods.
Embracing the future: Disruptive technologies and business models
Explore cutting-edge digital transformation: You’ll gain a deep understanding of major developments at the intersection of tech and society, from AI to blockchain to robotics, and learn how to leverage these technologies in a variety of real-world business settings. Make your academic insights a competitive advantage in your new enterprise.
Diving deeper: Entrepreneurial deep dives for targeted skill development
These entrepreneurial deep dive modules give students the skills they need to drive entrepreneurship in any size of the company. By exploring and implementing underdeveloped business domains, students will gain the tools and skills needed to drive entrepreneurial ventures and keep established corporations at the forefront of innovation.
A strong faculty
HHL’s faculty of 8 digital and general entrepreneurship professors brings a wealth of global industry experience to the classroom. Our teaching program is designed to provide students with real-world insights through our close collaboration with successful founders and investors. We set our students up for success with unique support, networking opportunities, and an incredible range of extracurricular entrepreneurial development programs.
Join our new Master in Entrepreneurship Program
Gather entrepreneurial experience by developing your skills and building your network to create your venture with our new Entrepreneurship Program.
Incubate and accelerate to startup success
Our top-notch education programs give you the knowledge and skills – but we also do everything to help you hit the ground running.
HHL’s innovative Digital Space startup incubator and the SpinLab – The HHL Accelerator provide the perfect platform for developing and scaling your business ideas.
These are complemented by a wide variety of networking, support, and coaching programs, and a range of events, networking, and other opportunities.
HHL Digital Space
Based on our Leipzig campus, HHL Digital Space offers a free 12-week incubation program for early-stage founders to get their businesses off the ground. Our incubator connects founders with established companies to help them navigate the challenges of digital business models. And with regular events such as Founders Talks, Market Day, and Launch Day, our program provides the perfect stage for you to pitch your company to investors and experts.
SpinLab – The HHL Accelerator
Once you’ve completed the HHL Digital Space program, the SpinLab Accelerator – an HHL spin-off managed by HHL alumnus Dr. Eric Weber – is the place to take things to the next level. Its six-month program is designed to foster growth with a no-nonsense mentality. Located in Leipzig’s creative core, the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, SpinLab gives aspiring entrepreneurs access to the guidance, resources, partner networks, and infrastructure they need to develop and thrive.
Discover other entrepreneurial opportunities on campus
SMILE coaching and workshops
Beyond coaching and feedback in seminars from HHL’s professors and research associates, potential founders can also obtain valuable support from the SMILE network. SMILE, or Self-Management Initiative Leipzig, is comprised of academic institutions in and around Leipzig, in which HHL plays a central role. SMILE provides guidance, coaching, and training leading to key qualifications for startups and spin-offs.
Female Founders Initiative
The Female Founders Initiative is a 6-month program that empowers women to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Designed with STEM specialists in mind, this initiative offers interactive workshops and seminars led by industry experts to help budding founders refine their business ideas and discuss challenges unique to women in business. The supportive network of experienced coaches and mentors help women to navigate the path to self-employment with confidence.
Corporate Entrepreneurship: HHL Student Consulting Projects
Corporate Entrepreneurship is not just about starting your own business. Many large companies have started intrapreneurship initiatives to foster an entrepreneurial spirit among their employees. HHL helps established companies create successful projects with students using methods such as hackathons and design thinking workshops. They explore areas such as digitalization, business model innovation, and new ways of working.
Events and networking opportunities
HHL offers various events to connect students with successful entrepreneurs, investors and potential cofounders. HHL brings together people with an entrepreneurial mindset and makes sure that they get to know the right persons to successfully start their businesses. The following list encompasses a selection of the most successful events to join. Are you ready to take off?
The Accelerate@HHL conference
The student-run Accelerate@HHL Conference is an entrepreneurship-focused event, open to all. It provides the ideal platform for networking and sharing ideas on everything from founding to funding, financing, and leadership. The event offers interactive workshops, panel discussions, and networking opportunities for students, startups, investors, and established companies alike. A great opportunity for entrepreneurs eager to make their mark.
Learn more about our student-driven Accelerate conference
Exclusive Startup Careers Fair
The Startup Careers Fair is a highly successful entrepreneurship event at HHL, initiated by our dean, Prof. Dr. Stephan Stubner. The fair is an opportunity for successful startups to share their entrepreneurial journeys and offer exclusive internships and management positions to HHL students. Held twice a year, the fair is open exclusively to HHL students.
The HHL SpinLab Investors Day
The HHL SpinLab Investors Day is a conference dedicated to investors and co-organized by HHL and SpinLab, the HHL accelerator. The event features panel discussions on investment-related topics, while SpinLab accelerator startups get the chance to present their pitches. HHL also presents the “Best of Mitteldeutschland” award, inviting the top startups from the founder initiatives in Central Germany to participate.
EY Public Value Award
The EY Public Value Award is a collaboration between HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management and the auditing and consulting firm Ernst & Young. New companies are invited to align their business models with courageous solutions to the challenges of our time and submit their ideas for the award. After a pre-selection phase, the award is handed over to the winners at a big event, organized by HHL Professor Timo Meynhardt. HHL and Ernst & Young have joined forces to create the EY Public Value Award, a platform for innovative startups to showcase innovative solutions to current societal challenges. Contestants submit their business ideas and models for pre-selection based on a number of criteria, and the winners are announced at a grand event.
