About us
Transforming academic potential to launch tomorrow’s leading startups.
Our Mission
Working under this mission statement, LAUNCH Rhein-Main is a student-run startup incubator dedicated to fostering entrepreneurial spirit in the Rhein-Main region. Our program provides students and doctoral candidates with an interdisciplinary platform to refine their business ideas and transform them into successful startups. Through collaboration with our experienced partners, we offer participants invaluable knowledge and guidance on their journey toward founding their own companies.
The Programs
The 10-week Winter Batch, held annually from November to January, offers participants hands-on workshops, mentoring and networking possibilities and concludes in a Demo Day where they pitch their ventures to our dedicated investors. Additionally, from April to October, LAUNCH organizes individual events with a focus on problem identification and ideation, preparing teams for the upcoming Winter Batch.
The idea for LAUNCH arises
An initial team of three members of the Entrepreneurs Club Mainz begins to work on a concept for a startup center for JGU in Mainz.
The target region expands
The ECM turns to its equivalent initiatives in the Rhine-Main region to expand the target region of the startup incubator, which is now called LAUNCH.
Our team is growing
The initial team of LAUNCH is expanded and grows to a number of seven, all of which are former board members of student startup initiatives.
The first partners support LAUNCH
A first group of partners support LAUNCH in its first steps to become Rhein-Mains leading early stage student incubator.
LAUNCH is integrated in the Futury - The Future Factory
LAUNCH stands out for its vision and goal and therefore becomes an official part of the Futury - The Future Factory, Rhein-Mains official startup factory.
An Advisory Board shares the vision
The team grows further to a number of 15 members in six departments. An Advisory Board is set up that shares the vision and consults the team in strategic questions.
LAUNCH becomes a registered association
LAUNCH becomes a registered association with its headquarters located at the Futury - The Future Factory Building in the heart of Frankfurt am Main.
The first batch starts...
14 startups compete in the first batch of the long-awaited startup incubator!
... and culminates in our demo day
The startups pitch in front of an audience of 150 representatives from the most important regional companies and institutions.
Our Team
Managing Board
Operations
Finance & Legal
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Partnerships
Communications
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People & Culture
Product
Product Development
Incubator
LAUNCH x BioTech
Summit
Managing Board
Operations
Finance & Legal
Partnerships
Communications
People & Culture
Product
Product Development
Incubator
Board of Trustees
Rolf has an impressive career in leading companies in the IT and telecommunications sectors and is currently Head of Europe at Nokia. With his extensive experience and leadership, he leads the company's European operations.
In 2021, Philipp founded the startup Quantagonia, which simplifies complex planning problems with AI and high-performance computing, setting technological standards across industries. During his business studies, he built Ligalytics, the global market leader for professional sports league planning, which is used by UEFA and DFB, among others.
With Clark, Marco founded Frankfurt's first unicorn and thus laid the foundation for a change in the startup culture of the Rhine-Main region. After leaving the operational business, he is now involved in (startup) politics and as an angel investor.
Following her studies in Hamburg & London and several years of experience at McKinsey and KKR, Larissa now has a key role at the World Fund. She is responsible for investments in ClimateTech startups and thus plays a key role in promoting sustainable technologies.
After his studies in France and Belgium and several stops in the corporate sector, Sebastien has already launched several successful startups and made a successful exit. He currently works as Climate Tech Portfolio Lead at the ZEISS Group.
Alex studied law at the University of Cologne and initially worked in product structuring for a FinTech before contributing his expertise and network as a ClimateTech investor at World Fund to support up-and-coming founders. He has since returned to his roots and heads the Commercials division at NaroIQ.
