Europe Doesn't Need More Startups. It Needs More Built on Its Scientific Edge.
Fraunhofer HHI opens selected high-potential research areas, "CORE Topics", to startup teams through its founder-oriented model.
Europe produces world-class research. The problem is what happens next.
Venture capital investment in Europe reached $17.5 billion in Q3 2025, against $80.9 billion in the US over the same period.¹ In Germany, €7.0 billion was invested in startups in 2024, less than half of 2021's peak.² At the same time, university spinouts across deep tech and life sciences are now valued at nearly $400 billion, with spinout activity continuing to grow across Europe.³ The issue is not scientific quality. It is how that science becomes buildable.
CORE Topics were developed to address that stage.
The Structural Problem
Germany invests over 3% of GDP in R&D,⁴ and Fraunhofer institutes have a strong track record in patents and spinouts.⁵ But much of this research stays embedded within institutional systems. Traditional tech transfer was never designed to actively surface which research areas are commercially aligned and ready to support new companies.
For founders and investors, the questions are practical: Where does strong science already exist? What is the IP situation? Can a startup realistically be built here, and with whom?
Those answers are not always easy to find. And funding alone does not solve it. With the proposed €175 billion Horizon Europe budget and the €1.4 billion European Innovation Council 2025 programme,⁶ more capital is entering the system than ever. How research is surfaced and positioned for company creation matters just as much.
What Are CORE Topics?
CORE Topics identify specific high-potential research areas at Fraunhofer HHI where startups can be built, not on archived work, but on active, cutting-edge science with the researchers still behind it.
Each CORE Topic opens a limited number of opportunities for founding teams to work directly within that research field. New topics are announced on a rolling basis throughout the year.
How they're selected
CORE Topics are chosen jointly by Silicon Allee, the venture lab at Fraunhofer HHI, and the institute's research groups. Each topic has to demonstrate scientifically validated foundations, existing IP, active research expertise, the technical infrastructure to support a company, and a credible path to commercial application. Not every strong research area qualifies, and the bar is deliberate.
What founding teams get
Teams working within a CORE Topic get structured access to the relevant patents and IP, direct collaboration with the scientists doing the work, technical infrastructure and compute resources, and a funded 12-month team phase.
Why It Matters Beyond One Institute
The challenge of translating research into companies is not unique to Fraunhofer HHI. A recent European Commission report highlights the persistent gap between research excellence and commercialisation across Europe,⁷ and Germany's High-Tech Strategy identifies knowledge transfer as a strategic priority.⁴ Too often, bridging that gap depends on exceptional individuals rather than clear systems, which makes company formation uneven rather than systematic.
CORE Topics are a different approach: making commercially aligned research visible and structured enough for founders and investors to act on. If Europe's scientific edge is going to show up in its economy, that kind of clarity is what it takes.
If you're a founding team interested in building on active deep tech research, explore the current open topics here.
References
¹ KPMG (2025). Venture Pulse Q3 2025.
² EY (2025). Startup Barometer Germany 2025.
³ Dealroom (2025). European Spinouts Report 2025.
⁴ Federal Government of Germany (2025). High-Tech Strategy 2025 Report; Federal Report on Research and Innovation 2024.
⁵ Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (2024). Annual Report 2024.
⁶ European Commission (2024–2025). Horizon Europe 2028–2034 Proposal; European Innovation Council 2025 programme.
⁷ European Commission (2024). The Future of European Competitiveness.
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