Dr. Maximilian Scheu teaches the „Startup Garage Hohenheim“ class and also seminars on entrepreneurial thinking, innovation, and the startup process. His courses combine academic perspectives on entrepreneurship with his own experience in launching startup initiatives, international innovation ecosystems, and a deep-tech startup in the quantum field.
His career has a strong international focus. While pursuing his bachelor’s degree in International Management with a focus on Asia, he gained academic and practical experience in Karlsruhe, Seoul, and Shanghai. He later deepened this perspective through master’s programs in Management and Corporate Management at the University of Hohenheim and Tongji University in Shanghai, with a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. During his work in China, including in strategic consulting, he explored the intersections of innovation and entrepreneurship in international market environments. He designed, among other things, strategy workshops for international joint venture firms and cross-border venture capitalists.
Maximilian Scheu subsequently worked as a researcher in the Entrepreneurship Research Group at the University of Hohenheim and earned his doctoral degree in entrepreneurship. His research and publications focus in particular on international entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial ecosystems, innovation adoption, and cultural influences on startup processes. The central question is how new companies emerge, build legitimacy, and grow in different institutional, cultural, and market-specific environments.
In parallel with his research and teaching, Maximilian Scheu actively contributes to the development of entrepreneurial initiatives and ecosystems. At the University of Hohenheim, he helped shape the development of the InnoGreenhouse and the Startup Garage. He supported students, researchers, and early-stage startup teams on their journey from idea to entrepreneurial implementation. In addition, he is involved in technology-oriented initiatives in the Stuttgart region, including in collaboration with CODE_n, and has contributed to strengthening the foreign entrepreneurial ecosystem in Shanghai.
Since 2025, Maximilian Scheu has been a co-founder of GeQD – Germanium Quantum Detectors, a deep-tech spin-off from the University of Stuttgart. GeQD develops germanium-based single-photon detectors for scalable quantum technologies, LiDAR, and advanced imaging. In doing so, GeQD pursues the mission of translating single-photon detection from highly specialized research environments into application-oriented and industrially scalable systems. In his role as co-founder, Maximilian Scheu combines technology commercialization, market and application validation, partner development, financing strategies, and go-to-market perspectives within a challenging deep-tech context.
Dr. Scheu brings these perspectives together in his courses. He places particular emphasis on ensuring that students learn from their own experiences and thus gain practical, real-world knowledge.
