UniCredit and Rise Europe Join Forces to Cultivate Europe’s Next Generation of Startup Leaders

UniCredit and Rise Europe Join Forces to Cultivate Europe’s Next Generation of Startup Leaders

(IN BRIEF) UniCredit and Rise Europe have entered into a strategic partnership designed to strengthen Europe’s startup ecosystem and drive regional competitiveness. Leveraging UniCredit’s extensive 13-country footprint and corporate networks, the collaboration aims to support Rise Europe’s expansion, help promising startups scale, and promote cross-border business growth alongside 14 industrial and academic innovation partners. Rise Europe—established in 2023 by UnternehmerTUM at the Technical University of Munich—unites 19 institutions to tackle key global challenges in technology, sustainability, healthcare, mobility, and energy. To date, the alliance has backed over 14,500 startups and 130,000 talents, securing about 10% of the region’s annual venture capital funding. UniCredit’s Head of Group Strategy & ESG, Fiona Melrose, emphasized the bank’s role in fostering a unified pan-European environment for entrepreneurs, while UnternehmerTUM’s Prof. Dr. Helmut Schönenberger highlighted the partnership’s potential to integrate Southern and Central Eastern Europe into the continent’s innovation landscape.

(PRESS RELEASE) MILAN/MUNICH, 2-Jul-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — UniCredit, the prominent pan-European banking group, has forged a strategic alliance with Rise Europe, a coalition of leading innovation centres across the continent, to accelerate the emergence of European market leaders and bolster competitiveness within the region.

Under this collaboration, UniCredit will leverage its presence in 13 countries, extensive corporate network, and local startup programmes to amplify Rise Europe’s expansion, help high-potential startups scale, and fortify Europe’s economic landscape. Together with 14 industrial and academic innovation partners from across Europe, they will drive cross-border business initiatives, facilitate shared learning, and foster trans-continental growth.

This partnership underscores UniCredit’s deepening dedication to nurturing both European champions and local enterprises in all markets where it operates. Rise Europe, founded in 2023 by UnternehmerTUM—the innovation and business creation hub of the Technical University of Munich—aims to empower transformative startups to secure lasting prosperity in Europe.

Comprising 19 corporate and academic institutions, Rise Europe focuses on addressing global challenges in areas such as AI, robotics and quantum computing; climate neutrality and the circular economy; food, agriculture and healthcare; aerospace and mobility; and the energy transition and resilience. Since its inception, the alliance has supported over 14,500 startups and 130,000 talents, capturing roughly 10% of the region’s annual venture capital investment.

“UniCredit is fully committed to strengthening the European startup ecosystem,” said Fiona Melrose, Head of Group Strategy & ESG at UniCredit. “By partnering with Rise Europe, we’re tearing down national barriers to create a unified, pan-European environment where entrepreneurs can flourish. This initiative also puts us at the forefront of breakthrough innovations that will benefit our business, clients and communities.”

Prof. Dr. Helmut Schönenberger, Founder and CEO of UnternehmerTUM, added: “Europe boasts exceptional entrepreneurial talent and top-tier technical universities. By joining forces with UniCredit, we can launch and accelerate a new wave of European startup champions, bringing Southern and Central Eastern European economies fully into this mission.”

Media Contact:

email: mediarelations@unicredit.eu

SOURCE: UniCredit