Profit centers for start-ups:

facts, information and numbers

 

The profit center model is an important element of the "Bielefelder Unternehmensschmiede". The project is part of the "Institute for Innovation-Transfer at the University of Bielefeld Ltd." (IIT GmbH). It enables graduates, students and employees from the university to gather experience in different branches and to professionally prepare themselves for business independence. With the assistance of a profit center, the potential entrepreneur has the opportunity to test his business idea under real market conditions within the IIT GmbH before establishing a company. During this phase, the IIT GmbH supports him in the areas of accountancy, market-analysis, marketing, distribution and insurance.

The incubator-room in the technology-center of Bielefeld gets the potential entrepreneur one step closer to the goal of setting up an independent business; an office with the structural benefits of the center gives the entrepreneur the opportunity to use these in the start-up phase. The two offices were set up in cooperation with the technology-center and the municipal WEGE GmbH.

The promotion of start-ups from university was sponsored by the Ministry of Economics of the land North Rhine-Westfalica as well as the Sparkasse Bielefeld and the Sparkasse Herford.  From 1997 - 2000, 77 entrepreneurs were active in 41 profit

In search of regional solutions as how to sponsor business start-ups, the EU has had 72 proposals to choose from and has placed the Bielefeld model on first place. This collective experience will now be applied at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and the Universidad Politecnia de Valencia in the frame of the EU project "USINE" (University Start - Up of international entrepreneurs).  

  

Founded during the middle of the 90's as a profit center in the IIT GmbH, the AMMMa AG is considered exemplary for the promotion of business start - ups at the University of Bielefeld. Started by students, graduates, graduate students, and professors of the university, the enterprise has continued to develop itself with the tasks of its entrepreneurs in the framework of diploma theses, doctorates and research projects and by the use of the advancement of the program of the "Bielefelder Unternehmensschmiede".

 

Starting out as a small multimedia provider, the AMMMa AG has grown to a corporation with four divisions working in the field of management consultation and arranging multimedia know - how. Today, the services consist of innovative know-ledge management systems (modeled after the Bielefelder model of the knowledge organization of professor Dr. Norbert Meder), editorship- and information-systems, the organization and care of internet appearances, as well as an academy for information technology training courses. Through their start-up at the university, the AMMMa's 13 shareholders make scientific research results and current methods of media education accessible to industry and economy.

The institute for project management, market and public opinion poll, IPMM in short, is a partner for inno-vative and professional solutions in the areas of customer linkage manage-ment, market and public opinion polls as well as project and conflict management. As an established profit center of the IIT GmbH, it has its place as GbR in the technology center Bielefeld. 

The start-up was developed at the faculty of sociology; it offers a full service from the market analysis to the market strategy to its customers. Among its customers rank the Volkswagen AG as well as the fair center Bad Salzuflen. In addition, the IPMM offers seminars with topics such as on-line market studies or conflict management for businesses.

 

The basis of the profit center LoGiSch - learning systems (the initials stand for the initials of its founders) was the multi-media product ViSeL, a learning software for the bio - technical area, which was developed in the 90's at the technical faculty of the University of Bielefeld.  This virtual sequencing laboratory (ViSeL) permits an introduction into gene analysis, the sequencing of DNA to solve the mystery of the genetic make - up. As a computer based training, it provides modules for learning the theoretical basis and its practical uses. University students, high school students and interns in the area of laboratories are the target groups for this program; it received a prize at the LernTec, the Fair for Learning Software of the Ministry of Federal Economy.

 

 

At the beginning of the year 2000 the "WellnessInstitut" was founded. This business idea was previously developed within the frame of a profit center in the IIT GmbH. The WellnessInstitut organizes "Wellnessevents" for its company customers as well as privately run sport and health organizations.

To be able to meet the needs and wishes of the customer, applications are given to free lance employees. The basis of this business idea stems from time spent studying education as well as the knowledge in the field of cosmetics, where the entrepreneur was self - employed. Recently, the project has begun to be sponsored by the Deutsche Ausgleichsbank.