The Code University of Applied Sciences in Berlin has spawned startups such as Tokenstreet, Owwn, Superchat and RemNote. Collage: startup scene
When you think of “start-up universities in Germany”, the first things that come to mind are WHU, TU Munich, RWTH Aachen or perhaps KIT, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Founders of companies such as Amorelie, Volocopter, Personio, Outfittery and Teleclinic studied there. For several years now, the programming university Code from Berlin has also been actively involved in the race for the title of “start-up university”. Founded in 2017 by Tom Bachem, Manuel Dolderer and Jonathan Rüth, the Code University of Applied Sciences currently has 600 students in the software engineering, product management and interaction design courses.
In recent years, alumni of the university have bagged millions in investments for their startups. Some companies, such as Tokenstreet or Handly, were created during semester projects. Code graduates have already achieved a few exits. One of them was that of Valentin von Albrecht and Hendrik Hofstadt. The two sold their blockchain company Certus One to a company in the USA a few months after it was founded.
Well-known scene heads like Verena Pausder and Florian Heinemann gather behind the Berlin university
Above all, Code focuses on enabling students to learn independently, project-based in a team. A skill that good founders need. Scene heads like Trivago founder Rolf Schrömgens or Fox&Sheep founder Verena Pausder support this. Together with other companies such as Benjamin Otto from the Hamburg Otto family and startup investor Florian Heinemann, they are investing in the university themselves.