GeneNovate | Call for Application 2027

The following text does not reflect the entire content of the announcement, but contains individual extracts from the guideline.

GeneNovate® is Germany's first nationwide entrepreneurship program, designed to build a biotech entrepreneurship ecosystem embedded within a broader European network. While a focus is on gene and cell therapies, the program is also open to other areas of biotechnology, diagnostics, and bioinformatics.

We want to inspire researchers, doctors and innovators for entrepreneurship and empower them to bring their research to patients via scalable business models. The program targets both early-career scientists and physicians, such as advanced students, PhD candidates, and Postdocs, as well as experienced researchers and medical professionals.

A key strength of the program lies in its collaborative approach, connecting participants and ecosystem stakeholders across all GeneNovate® locations in Germany.

This comprehensive program is offered free of charge.

• Entrepreneurship education tailored to gene and cell therapies, biotech and medicine
• Practical application of the theoretical input in interactive team exercises
• Coaching and feedback from experienced mentors
• Exchange with experts and experienced startups
• Comprehensive information material on the program topics
• Access to a nationwide network of participants, alumni, experts, investors and industry representatives
• Opportunity to develop and present a startup pitch
• Participation certificate after completion of all requirements
• Membership in the growing GeneNovate® alumni network

The GeneNovate® program runs in ten regions in Germany from December 2026 to June 2027 and you can apply from mid September to mid November.

Each region's program begins with a kick-off meeting in December and runs through six full-day, in-person workshops (one per month, January through June), each preceded by an online theory session. The program concludes with a regional preselection event, followed by the Final Event in Heidelberg on 23.06.2027.

GeneNovate® is intended for innovators and prospective founders in life sciences, biotech and medicine, including:

• advanced students and PhD candidates
• postdoctoral researchers
• experienced researchers
• physicians and other medical professionals

Professional competencies and experience: Candidates should have a committed founder’s mindset and a clear startup vision. Ideally, they are already involved in a specific research project or have an initial idea or concept that could be developed into a startup and contribute to patient benefit.

• Region Berlin
• Region East (Dresden, Leipzig)
• Region Heidelberg
• Region Munich
• Region North (Braunschweig, Göttingen, Hamburg, Hannover)
• Region NRW I (Aachen, Bonn, Köln, Düsseldorf)
• Region NRW II (Bielefeld, Bochum, Dortmund, Essen, Münster, OWL)
• Region Rhine-Main (Mainz, Frankfurt am Main)
• Region Southwest (Freiburg, Tübingen)
• Region WERA (Würzburg, Erlangen, Regensburg, Augsburg)

The theoretical input sessions and workshops cover the following topics:

1. Introduction to entrepreneurship

2. Changing the healthcare industry
3. Creating and presenting pitch decks
4. Value proposition and Business Model Canvas
5. IP protection and management
6. Market analysis
7. Creating a business model
8. Building a business case
9. Regulation
10. Developing a product and solution
11. Go-to-market strategy: understanding and winning customers
12. Legal foundations for startups
13. Team management
14. Project management
15. Establishing and managing partnerships
16. Financing and funding
17. Investor discussions and negotiations
18. Exit options and strategic value