This talk will highlight the particular characteristics of startups as means to commercialize AI technologies and innovations originating from academic science. We will assume a business and economics perspective to cover the following aspects: industries & applications for AI startups, business models for AI startups, property rights on data, algorithms and infrastructure, growth potential of AI startups (economies of scale & scope) as well as financing sources. The talk will be rounded up with some current examples of successful AI spin-off from German universities.