Competitions

In 2026, MUT – THE NRW START-UP AWARD, organised by NRW.BANK, will honour successful start-up founders, business successors and freelancers for the 15th time. With prize money totalling 60,000 euros, MUT – THE NRW START-UP AWARD is one of the most generously endowed competitions in Germany for innovative and successful start-up founders and business successors.

The programme is open to all founders from North Rhine-Westphalia whose businesses have already achieved initial success – regardless of economic sector or industry. In 2025, for example, the participating start-ups included companies from the health and care, retail, new technologies, skilled trades and food sectors. The key criteria are economic viability and the COURAGE to try something new.

This is precisely what sets MUT – THE NRW START-UP AWARD apart once again this year: female and male founders who, through their businesses, drive innovation, strengthen our regions and develop solutions to the challenges of our time.

To mark its 15th anniversary, the MUT award will be presented for the first time in three categories, highlighting how the economy has changed and the diversity of entrepreneurship in North Rhine-Westphalia:

Sustainability & Local: Start-ups that boost local value creation and are rethinking sustainability

Social Impact & Care. Start-ups that use entrepreneurial ideas to solve specific social problems

Innovation & the Future: Technologies and business models that are shaping the transformation of the economy and industry

Three categories, three prizes and prize money totalling 60,000 euros for the best start-ups in North Rhine-Westphalia – the deadline for applications is 2 August 2026.

In each category, three nominees will each have the chance to win 20,000 euros. Companies whose business model spans several categories, or which cannot be clearly assigned to a single category, are also eligible to apply.

Prerequisites:

• Your small or medium-sized enterprise is headquartered in North Rhine-Westphalia, is commercially successful and has a viable business model.
• Your business was launched between 2021 and 2024 . You either set it up yourself, took it over as a successor, or run it on a freelance basis.
• What your business is not :– a subsidiary of an existing company– a spin-off from an existing company with existing products– formed through an acquisition– formed as a result of a change in the business activities of a company that has been in existence for more than five years

Further information on the application process can be found on the NRW Bank website.