Germany's unicorn founders studied at these universities

Studying unicorns – but where? We looked at which universities German unicorn founders studied.

Studying Unicorns – but where? Is there a single Unicorn university in Germany? We looked at which universities German Unicorn founders have studied. Two aspects immediately stand out.

German unicorn founders have studied at a total of 56 different universities and universities of applied sciences. Elite schools don't automatically pave the way. However, a closer look at the academic background of German unicorn founders reveals a clear trend. TUM, CDTM, ETH Zurich, LMU, WHU, and the University of Hamburg are clearly ahead.

The following overview shows unicorns, founders, and universities. In total, we analyzed 26 unicorns and thus 68 founders:

• Philipp Schröder (University of Hamburg, HSG)
• Micha Grueber (Bowdoin College, University of Hamburg)
• Philip Liesenfeld (University of Münster)
• Jannik Schall (TU Dresden)

• Zhaopeng Chen (Harbin Institute of Technology)
• Peter Meusel (Giessen University of Applied Sciences)

• Peter Chaljawski (No studies)

• Bastian Nominacher (Munich University of Applied Sciences, TUM)
• Alexander Rinke (TUM)
• Martin Klenk (TUM)

• Daniel Khachab (Maastricht University)
• Julian Hammer (NA)
• Rogerio da Silva Yokomizo (FATEC ZL)

• Denis Werner (Koblenz University of Applied Sciences)
• René Welches (DHBW, Berlin University of Technology)
• Dirk Hörig (TUM)

• Sascha Konietzke (University of Cooperative Education)
• Paolo Negri (Politecnico di Milano)

• Jaroslaw Kutylowski (Uniwersytet Wrocławski, University of Potsdam)

• Florian Sauter (TUM, CDTM)
• Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer (LMU, TUM)

• Mario Kohle (WHU)
• Viktor Wingert (WHU)
• Jochen Ziervogel (WHU)

• Jochen Engert (University of Stuttgart, WHU)
• André Schwämmlein (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg)
• Daniel Krauss (Ansbach University of Applied Sciences, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, FernUni Hagen)

• Michael Wax (TUM, CDTM)
• Erik Muttersbach (TUM, CDTM)
• Ferry Heilemann (WHU)

• Johannes Reck (ETH Zurich)
• Tao Tao (ETH Zurich, Tilburg University)
• Martin Sieber (University of Heidelberg, ETH Zurich)
• Tobias Rein (ETH Zurich)

• Gundbert Scherf (Maastricht University, FU, Cambridge)
• Torsten Reil (University of Sussex, Oxford)
• Niklas Köhler (LMU)

• Max Tayenthal (WU, University of Vienna)
• Valentin Stalf (HSG)

• Naren Shaam (Tennessee Technological University, Harvard)

• Malte Kosub (University of Hamburg, Harvard, MIT)
• Stefan Ostwald (KIT)

• Hanno Renner (HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences, TUM, CDTM)
• Ignaz Forstmeier (TUM, CDTM)
• Roman Schumacher (TU Berlin, ETH Zurich, Cambridge)
• Arseniy Vershinin (TUM, CDTM)

• Florian Seibel (Federal Armed Forces University Munich)

• Tushar Ahluwalia (EBS, LBS)
• Shrestha Chowdhury (Stanford)
• Oliver Dlugosch (HHU Düsseldorf, Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg)
• Christoph Felix Gamon (LSE)

• Erik Podzuweit (Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel)
• Florian Prucker (TUM)
• Stefan Mittnik (TU Berlin, University of Sussex, Washington University in St. Louis)

• Julius Köhler (City University of Hong Kong)
• Nicolaus Schefenacker (Bocconi, Columbia)
• David Nothacker (Bocconi, ESADE, LSE, INSEAD)

• Frank Wolf (TU Dresden)
• Lutz Gerlach (Chemnitz University of Technology)
• Martin Böhringer (TU Chemnitz)

• Mathis Büchi Ginzbourg (The University of Hong Kong)
• Lino Teuteberg (Potsdam University of Applied Sciences)

• Thomas Pischke (TUM, CDTM, ETH Zurich, LMU)
• Marco Cancellieri (LMU)
• Christian Hecker (LMU)

• Josef Fleischmann (TUM)
• Markus Brandl (TUM)
• Daniel Metzler (TU Vienna, TUM)

Some unicorns are directly associated with specific universities. For example, Isar Aerospace, Personio, Egym, and Celonis were founded by TUM graduates. Others, such as Enpal, were founded by WHU alumni, Getyourguide by ETH Zurich alumni, and Trade Republic by LMU alumni. Beyond these well-known top universities, the University of Hamburg, with Philipp Schröder and Micha Grueber of 1Komma5°, and Chemnitz University of Technology, with Martin Böhringer and Lutz Gerlach of Staffbase, also stand out.

TUM and LMU in Munich are clearly hubs. No city has produced more unicorns than Munich. Unicorns in Germany therefore tend to come from centers such as TUM, LMU, ETH Zurich, and WHU.

Unlike in the US and UK, however, in Germany it's ultimately still more about what you study than where. Those who want to maximize their chances of success and their network should still take a closer look at TUM, LMU, ETH Zurich, or WHU. However, if they choose another university, they can still become a unicorn founder.