Tenfold increase in public funding: AI Startup Rising makes Hesse’s AI startups ready for investment

The AI Startup Rising (AISR) program at the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI) shows how targeted funding can accelerate innovation. Since the end of 2021, the project has supported more than 200 AI startup teams on their journey from research idea to market entry: By the end of 2025, the participating startups had raised over €60 million in funding and private investment – more than ten times the amount of public funds invested. The project will continue to receive support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) until March 2027.

Funding as a driver for innovation

AI Startup Rising is one of four nationwide model projects for AI start-ups, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and supported by Project Management Jülich (PTJ). Experience in Hesse shows that early support along the entire start-up chain – from idea generation and incubation to the growth phase – not only strengthens individual start-ups, but also the innovation location as a whole.

AI Startup Rising in numbers

• Over 200 AI startup teams supported
• Around 140 teams in the startup programs (incubation and acceleration)
• Over €60 million in funding and investments
• Numerous market-ready spin-offs

From idea to market

Successful alumni include etalytics (AI-based energy optimization), Veli (responsible AI in healthcare), and scavenger.ai (AI-based analysis of complex corporate data). These start-ups have now established themselves on the German market or attracted international investors.

“AI Startup Rising provided us with crucial support in strategically developing our AI product and connecting us with relevant experts and partners at an early stage. The sparring on AI architecture, scaling, and positioning was particularly valuable. The program has noticeably accelerated Veli,” says Jan-Peter Seevers, founder of Veli, a startup for an AI-based security solution for assisted living and assisted living facilities.

Scientific Excellence and European Integration

A key factor in the project’s success is its close integration with the cutting-edge research conducted by hessian.AI – the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence. From 2026, this connection will gain additional prominence: with the clusters of excellence ‘Reasonable Artificial Intelligence’ (RAI) and ‘The Adaptive Mind’ (TAM) at TU Darmstadt, Hesse is further expanding its position in the field of responsible and trustworthy AI. At the same time, hessian.AI is part of the European consortium of the JUPITER AI Factory (JAIF), a €55 million project to strengthen the European AI infrastructure, which gives startups, SMEs, and research access to exascale-class supercomputers capable of performing trillions of calculations per second.

TU President Prof. Tanja Brühl emphasizes the importance of this interconnection:

“Artificial intelligence is a key technology for our future. It is of central importance for the competitiveness and resilience of Germany and Europe. The challenge is to consistently translate ideas into market-ready innovations. This is best achieved in a dynamic innovation ecosystem with strong partners – through the interaction of excellent research, first-class infrastructure, effective support structures, and competent teams that accompany founders throughout their entire journey. hessian.AI | AI Startup Rising is a defining part of such a networked ecosystem, with which we are specifically accelerating AI innovations at TU Darmstadt, in the Rhine-Main region, and in Hesse.”

“The ‘Reasonable Artificial Intelligence’ (RAI) cluster of excellence is a game changer for hessian.AI | AI Startup Rising,” says Prof. Kristian Kersting. “RAI provides the scientific excellence for trustworthy AI solutions, thereby laying the foundation for responsible AI startups in Hesse – in collaboration with the Cluster of Excellence ‘The Adaptive Mind’, which focuses on humans and natural intelligence.”

Prof. Mira Mezini adds: “Our role in the JUPITER AI Factory (JAIF) perfectly complements this foundation: JAIF provides startups with crucial access to exascale computing – from the research idea to the scalable product. Together, we are positioning Hesse as a European hub for AI innovation and trustworthy AI applications.”

hessian.AI Co-directors Prof Kristian Kersting and Prof Mira Mezini

Looking ahead: The next steps for AI Startup Rising

The AI Startup Rising model project will be extended until March 2027 on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) – and will continue to focus on accelerating the transfer of research into start-ups. With synergies with the RAI Cluster of Excellence and the European JUPITER AI Factory, hessian.AI | AISR is positioning itself as a leading hub for trustworthy AI.

The dual leadership of AI Startup Rising, Tobias Kehl and Carlina Bennison, is focusing on the next growth steps for the AI ecosystem in Hesse and the role of AISR as a scaling lever:

“We have set ourselves ambitious goals for 2026,” says Tobias Kehl, explaining: “We want to bring cutting-edge international AI research into application in an even more targeted and, above all, faster manner. AI researchers and technical builders are Hesse’s, Germany’s, and Europe’s greatest asset. That’s why we will also be increasingly focusing on data-driven and AI-based approaches as key levers for scaling the Hessian AI ecosystem in the future.”

Close cooperation with partners in the ecosystem will play a central role. AISR co-lead Carlina Bennison attaches particular importance to the funding agencies of the universities involved in hessian.AI:

“The excellent partnership with the Hessian innovation and start-up centers is a key strength of AI Startup Rising. Close cooperation with HIGHEST, the innovation and start-up center at TU Darmstadt, Science Park Kassel, and partners from the Rhine-Main ecosystem such as Futury and other players has proven to be a strategic success factor. Together, we are working to translate Hesse’s AI excellence into scalable start-up applications more quickly and establish Hesse as a globally visible hub for AI startups.”

Cover photo by Jan Riedel
Photo of hessian.AI co-directors by Klaus Mai
Photo of AISR Co-Leads by Karin Gessler