Artificial Intelligence: New Project Strengthens Startups Across the EU

How can artificial intelligence (AI) support the creation of new businesses? And how can this emerging technology help translate academic research into entrepreneurial innovation? These questions are at the heart of a new European project, PIONEER+, in which the Chair of Entrepreneurship and the Startup Office at the Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) are collaborating with international partners.

RPTU is a key partner in the newly launched EU project PIONEER+ (“Pioneering Innovation & Entrepreneurship capacity building activities through Digital Transformation”). The project aims to transform universities across Europe into centers of excellence for digital innovation and entrepreneurial thinking. To achieve this, PIONEER+ adopts a holistic approach to innovation promotion, including enhanced technology transfer processes, mentoring programs, new curricula in AI and entrepreneurship, and the development of creative, AI-powered tools for startups.

Under the leadership of Ionian University in Greece, RPTU’s Chair of Entrepreneurship and its Startup Office are working alongside eight partners from seven EU countries. RPTU’s contributions focus on the development and evaluation of a methodology designed to foster spin-offs and startups originating from universities. The Business + Innovation Center Kaiserslautern (bic) is also involved as a regional partner.

Among other activities, the RPTU team will design and deliver courses on “AI in Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship,” integrating state-of-the-art AI tools into entrepreneurial education. In addition, the project partners plan to organize international summer schools to support technology-driven startups.

“With this project, we are exploring and developing new ways to strengthen science-based startups in Europe,” says project lead Professor Dennis Steininger, Chair of Entrepreneurship at RPTU. He adds: “Digital technologies in particular offer new opportunities to transform research into entrepreneurial innovation – and with PIONEER+, we aim to harness this potential in a sustainable way.”

PIONEER+ is funded with nearly €1.5 million by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an independent EU body that promotes Europe’s ability to innovate and addresses key societal challenges. The project is part of the fourth call of the EIT HEI Initiative (Higher Education Initiative) and runs from 2025 to 2027.

More information: https://eit-hei.eu/projects/pioneer

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Dennis Steininger
Chair of Entrepreneurship
P: +49 631 205 2870
E: dennis.steininger@rptu.de