FAQ

Your questions about founding

The start-up service is a project of the European University Viadrina with the support of the European Social Fund and the state of Brandenburg to support start-up projects.

The start-up service offers you:

  • Support. As a person interested in setting up a business, you will be assigned a permanent contact person who will be at your side for all questions and problems.
  • Counselling. We also provide you with advice on all start-up-related topics from tax consultants, lawyers, management consultants and marketing experts, among others.
    • Coachings. We support your start-up idea with regular, personalised and reflective group coaching sessions.
  • Matching. Still haven't found a suitable co-founder? We support you in your search for team members.
    • Events. We enable you to exchange ideas with other founders through regular events.Network. We offer you our network with a wide range of contacts to experts, companies, authorities and stakeholders.

You can reach us by phone at 0335 5534 5928 or by email at gruenden@europa-uni.de and email and drop by on weekdays. In an initial meeting, we will introduce you to our services and discuss your idea.

Support from the start-up service is free of charge.

The project is aimed at students, academic staff and alumni (up to 7 years after graduation) who would like to start a business in the state of Brandenburg. The place of residence of the participants is not important as long as they intend to start a business in the state of Brandenburg; e.g. in Frankfurt (Oder), Schönefeld or Potsdam. It is not aimed at companies or entrepreneurs, i.e. people who have already realised their start-up idea.

The start-up service is aimed at prospective founders BEFORE setting up a company or registering a self-employed activity.

This event provides you with a compact overview of the most important information needed to set up a company or freelance business. Participants simply bring vague ideas and initial project considerations or already have a concrete plan. You can find the dates here, on social media at Linkedln, Instagram and on viaCampus.

Our Meetups are a relaxed get-together where prospective founders from different stages of the start-up process meet up in a friendly atmosphere. Here you can find out how they have realised their projects. The aim is to get to know each other, share knowledge and help each other. We recommend that all our founders regularly take part in the MeetUps. There is also a WhatsApp group: please ask us for access: gruenden@europa-uni.de

We will decide together at our first meeting. The best way to arrange an appointment is by e-mail at gruenden@europa-uni.de

During this nationwide campaign week, which takes place in mid-November, the partners of Foundation Week offer workshops, seminars, business games, competitions and many other events on the topic of self-employment. We have been actively involved in the event for years with a range of activities.

Of course, no two start-ups are the same. Among other things, this also means that it is not possible to determine an exact duration for this process.

It is very likely necessary to register a self-employed activity in order to be able to issue an invoice. We can help you with this. The best thing to do is to send us an email to gruenden@europa-uni.de.

Both tradespeople and freelancers work independently. This counts just as much as founding a start-up.

Yes, our services are open to all students at Brandenburg's universities - no matter what stage of study you are in. Even as a graduate, you can benefit from the start-up service up to seven years after graduating from a Brandenburg university.

With the business plan, you provide yourself with clarity. You develop your own business idea until you know what opportunities and risks are associated with it and how you can realise the business idea. Many founders want to use a business plan to attract investors. It is also possible to take part in various business plan competitions. Our founders have been honoured several times at the renowned Business Plan Competition Berlin-Brandenburg. There are small and large prizes worth a total of 50,000 euros to be won. You can also receive ECTS credits for creating a business plan. Setting up a company can also be recognised as an internship. Talk to us if you have any questions.

Of course! You can study and start a business at the same time. Starting a business can have an impact on taxes, insurance and BAföG. Find out about this in advance. On the start-up platform you will find helpful tips.

As a prospective founder, you undertake to keep us, as your supervisors, regularly up to date and above all to inform us if there are any changes to your start-up project. You also commit to starting up in the state of Brandenburg. And you guarantee that you are currently not self-employed or that you have founded and continue to run your own company that is still on the market.

All employees at the Viadrina Founders Center speak English. We offer our initial counselling in German and English. Some of our workshops are also held in English.

No one tests your German language skills. However, there are a lot of situations where it can be difficult without solid language skills: for example, when registering with the trade office, contacting the tax office or filing tax returns - and not least when dealing with customers.

Even in larger cities, founders should not limit themselves to a customer base from their own language area. Ideally, the services should also work for German customers. It should be possible to advise customers in German. We recommend that you only set up your business when your German language skills are at least level B1 or that you bring German-speaking co-founders into the team.

Tip: The Viadrina Language Centre offers free German courses for various language levels. Several educational institutions offer language courses, including the Volkshochschule (VHS) in Frankfurt (Oder). An overview of courses on offer can be found on the website of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). An online offer for learning German is available, for example, from Deutsche Welle (DW).

The Immigration Office examines each case individually. You should have worked out your start-up idea as concretely as possible. We are happy to support you with this. However, we are not allowed to advise on visa issues. Please make an appointment with the staff at the Immigration Office. Our founders describe the staff as very cooperative and flexible when it comes to the needs of international students.

The team at the Communal Integration Centre (KI) also informs immigrants about the options for integrating into the German labour market. In close proximity to the job centre and the employment agency, the KI offers labour market advice for immigrants:

  • Placement in work, training, entry-level qualification, internships, voluntary service, FSJ and voluntary work
  • Support in the search for suitable language support and qualification programmes
  • Creation of application documents
  • Support with the recognition of foreign certificates (school and work)
  • Labour market, educational and career counselling

Have you completed your studies in Germany or are you about to? Here you will find some suggestions on what to do after graduation.

As a start-up service, we show you funding opportunities and put you in touch with institutions such as savings banks or investment banks. You choose the right offer for you or search for investors on your own. At our annual field trip to the German Start-up and Entrepreneur Days (deGUT) in October, you have the chance to network with business angels or present your concept at speed dating (application starts in August). Similar opportunities are offered by the contact evenings and networking events of the Business Plan Competition Berlin-Brandenburg. Our regular pitch training sessions prepare you for pitching to investors

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We regularly offer workshops on idea generation, e.g. with design thinking or business games such as "Pitch Your Greeen Idea" on all aspects of business start-ups. If you don't have an idea yet, no problem. Feel free to visit our workshops (especially for brainstorming) and get to know people interested in starting a business and their ideas. This will inspire you.

Start-up service

Visiting address

Viadrina Founders Centre
Logenhaus (LH), Room K05
Logenstr. 11, Frankfurt (Oder)