Already have the spark of a start-up idea – but still need to sharpen it, structure it, and turn it into a compelling concept? To move from curiosity to clarity, founders need a structured way to explore their idea: • Who is your target customer? • What problem are you solving – and why is it truly worth solving? • What makes your solution unique? • How will you create and deliver value? One proven tool to guide this process is the Business Model Canvas . It helps you break d

Explore the research-based innovations our Batch #6 Max Planck start-ups are pursuing. Each team is pushing ideas forward that could help define the future.

Ecodylic Science is building a software ecosystem that makes complex behavioral data analysis accessible, scalable, and scientifically powerful.

This Max Planck start-up project is tackling a very human challenge: helping vocal musicians and DJs connect better with their audiences.

The Max Planck Society stands for research excellence – but how do you turn discoveries into real-world impact? MAX!mize helps researchers transform insights into innovations and even launch a start-up.

Here’s a quick and honest overview of financing options for your start-up – with pros, cons, and practical tips to help you decide.

This tool guide offers practical tips to help your start-up team work smarter, create faster, and grow your business effectively.

Let’s talk about how and why intellectual property can be a key success factor for your science-based start-up.

Thinking about founding a start-up? The key question is: Is your technology ready for the market? Get to know the 9 different levels of technology readiness.

This team is a prime example of how a simple research solution can ignite a powerful business idea with real-world impact.

You’ve got groundbreaking research? To build a successful start-up, a business plan is essential – a clear roadmap to guide your journey from idea to impact.

Whether you're looking for your first investor, a trusted advisor, or even your future co-founder – your stakeholder network can be the difference between potential and progress.

This start-up journey shows that you don't necessarily need a perfect idea or a business plan to start a company - curiosity, courage and the willingness to break new ground are much more important.

Discover what research-based topics are driven by our Max Planck start-ups in Batch #5. From deep tech to human sciences, each team is working on innovations that have the potential to shape our future.

The Max Planck start-up project ClearCut Biolabs, participating in the start-up incubation program MAX!mize, develops easy-to-use tools for advanced gene editing.

From idea and teambuildung to business model and branding - step by step to your science-based start-up.

Insights into the three-day Bootcamp from the perspective of the start-up SimBricks and how they develop their future science-based company.

The world of start-ups is diverse. And so are our participants in the MAX!mize incubation program. There is a wide variety of concepts, plans and goals. Different personalities, opportunities and challenges. No two entrepreneurial paths are the same. But they all have the same goal: To work on their foundation with passion and commitment. And it is precisely this goal that Partha Ghosh, Valentina Rodriguez Pasmino and Kamil Adamczewski have now achieved. We would like to cong

Inside the Bootcamp: How future sciencepreneurs win a spot in Phase 1 After submitting a promising application, selected start-ups enter a three-day Bootcamp where their ideas are challenged, refined, and tested from every angle. But only those that convince the expert jury on the third day of the Bootcamp make it to Phase 1. Curious how the decision gets made? Get an interesting glimpse into the process from a jury member’s perspective. As an expert in the innovation of busi

Basic research at the highest level and its transfer into practical applications are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, scientific excellence and commercial success often go hand in hand, as many Nobel Prize winners from Max Planck Institutes who are involved in business start-ups or innovations have shown. This is precisely where we want to pick up and use MAX!mize to encourage and enable researchers at the Max Planck Institutes to successfully transfer their scientifi

In 2025, two new batches will start. Batch #5 has already kicked-off. A total of 10 teams were able to convince the Bootcamp jury and are now in Phase 1. If you are also thinking about applying for our start-up incubator with your research-based start-up idea, you are welcome to do so from 17th of March until 7th of July, where the application window for Batch #6 opens. We collected three top things for aspiring future Max Planck founders to do right now. Rights: Kimberly Kob

Two members of the start-up team FlyVoTech, Guy Reeves and Dušica Briševac. Yellow post-it notes labeled with thick black felt-tip pen writings glide across the table. The words "Drosophila," "contract company," and "drug discovery" catch the eye. Dušica Briševac is organizing notes into different piles labeled "essential," "nice to have," and "negative." The 35-year-old postdoc at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, is currently faced with the task of prioritizin

The start-up project QuantiLight of Max Planck Institute for Medical Research is developing home blood tests. To pave the way for a potential spin-off, the two "founders-to-be" Estelle Bonedeau and Corentin Gondrand, have been participating in the MAX!mize start-up incubation program since 2022. Blood tests play an essential role for many people. One example is chronic diseases that require daily medication. Here, regular examinations of the medication level are necessary. So