Ms. Ott, Mr. Müller, in mid-July Futury won the Exist lighthouse competition of the Federal Ministry of Economics and is one of the leading start-up factories in the country. What did you achieve with it? Charlie Müller: This is a first important intermediate destination for us – but actually an order. The program runs over five years, and for us the actual work is now beginning. We have to implement everything we have described in our concept: how we design our start-up factory and how we can support even more start-ups and outputs. The ten million euros in private capital raised by Futury are now increased to up to 20 million euros. What happens to the money? Müller: We use this to create the offers for start-ups so that more is founded on site, but the quality of start-ups is also increased. Specifically: We offer educational programs for students so that the topic is more to the fore. We also build up programs for founders in the initial phase and bring start-ups and science together with industry so that pilot projects are created. In addition, we have a lot here in the Futury “Startup Space”, which invests physical home for start-ups, and they have recently been sitting at the Bertramshof in Frankfurt. Currently, more and more start-ups are moving in as tenants. What kind of place should be created here? Melissa Ott: In addition to office space, founders need a place to work and network. With our startup space there is a lively cosmos for founders who want to grow and scale with industrial partners, mentors, investors and talents. We have around 150 jobs that will be rented in the next few weeks. Müller: The region needs a clear location of the identification. We can play our startup space with formats for founders, industrial partners, students and scientists. Next to us, the House of Digital Transformation and the GOETHE-University start-up center move in, and we have event space for the networking of all participants in the ecosystem. A perfect basis for founding and scaling. To share ideas: The start-up space also offers the young companies presentation rooms. Lucas Bäumlsie have set themselves the goal of producing 1000 start-ups in the region by 2030. How do you want to do that? Ott: We see a high potential in close cooperation with the universities. Since the beginning of the year we have been working with the TU Darmstadt, the Frankfurt School, the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and the Goethe University in Frankfurt. The universities are now our partners. Statistics show that we can keep up with the USA in Germany. Only the commercialization does not work to the same extent. The universities are our very big lever. The research talents can increase founding, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence, deep tech or lifescience. This is exactly what we want to support. Müller: We did not choose the number 1000 for marketing reasons, but have carefully calculated together with universities and founding centers. At the same time, in addition to the quantity, we also have to keep an eye on the quality. It is not about developing 20 new dating apps, but promoting technologies that have a high disruption and value creation potential. The start-updecetor database, which the start-up association also refers to, there were 196 new start-ups in 2024. We want to provide this ecosystem a real thrust. We do this through the many new programs we start. And we also invest capital in start-ups with Futury Capital-our venture capital funds. We are completely aware that start-ups are volatile and risky and not everyone survives. But first of all, our goal is that more start-ups arise at all. In the second step, we network them with industrial partners so that they win the first customers and thus become attractive for investors. How do you rate the situation of the start-up ecosystem in the region, also compared to Munich or Berlin? Müller: expandable. We have the banks, the financial center, the airport, many service providers and industry here – a lot is going well here structurally. There was no need for real innovations. Other regions such as Munich are a shining example: there the founding of the Technical University of Munich was specifically transferred to an innovation ecosystem. The magic word is “concentrated”. For us, that’s still too much watering can: there are many funding instruments, but it creates wild growth. One of our biggest tasks is to coordinate and bundle this: The positive: there is a lot that we can build on. Rhein-Main is extremely strong-both for universities and founders as well as in industry, added value and the financial sector. Only these pieces of the puzzle have so far been too fragmented. These have to interlock better. What does Munich make better than Frankfurt? Müller: Munich began to promote start-ups with a clear focus more than 20 years ago. Direct contact with the TU and thus with the researchers in which technologies are created was given from the start. There was a clear timetable: Information, know-how about entrepreneurship and enable the scaling on site with the region’s economic strength. Politicians also pulled in Bavaria. If you compare the Hessian University Act with the Bavarian University Law, you can already see this by the name. In addition, technology transfer in Bavaria is significantly more important, and the universities have a more targeted order there in this area: Start-ups have a different status in Bavaria. Prime Minister Söder comes to the Technical University of Munich and talks about it – that also creates a media value. In addition, Bavaria checks the state laws to enable adjustments – be it in the university law or currently with the advance that foundation capital of up to five percent can be invested in venture capital without losing the non -profit. Ott: We looked closely at where the industrial sectors are strong in the region, create jobs and drive economic growth – and at the same time where research is particularly strong. This resulted in three central industrial clusters for us: first, Life Science and Health Care, with parade examples such as Biontech in Mainz, Merz in Frankfurt, the Höchst industrial park and Merck in Darmstadt. Second, FinTech as well as finance and banking. And thirdly Aviation and Space, where we have enormous potential with the ESA in Darmstadt and the airport in Frankfurt as a turnstile. The seat of Futury and the Futury Start-up Space: The Bertramshof.Lucas Bäumlund The research? Ott: We have defined two technology focus in which our universities are leading. On the one hand, soft-tech topics such as data analysis and artificial intelligence, on the other hand, deep-tech areas such as process technology, quantum computing and robotics. The really exciting ideas then arise at the interfaces between the technology and the industrial components. This means? Müller: An example: We have an enormous digital infrastructure here in Frankfurt-with large data centers and the DE-Cix as one of the world’s leading internet nodes. Hardly any other city flow more data. This is exactly what new business models and solutions can be created at the interface with the actors of the financial center. If we take this look, the potential for start-ups will also be visible, so are more looking at the strengths of the region and orientate them to the needs of the companies there? Müller: Yes, we need focus, focus, focus. Where are we really good and have the user industries, because they have to pilot the solutions of the start-ups and buy them as customers. The industrial scaling takes place in the end. Of course, not everything that is politically desirable can also be implemented economically. This is exactly why we rely on close cooperation with industrial partners and private capital. However, they only give us trust if we work close to the market and create real added value. In the meantime, more than 30 partners support us – and we have to create relevance for them. This is possible by developing substance in the products, technologies and teams of start-ups. As a factory, this means for us: to make it, build structures and thus specifically produce start-ups that fulfill this: we go to the industry, questions about the concrete challenges and then bring the partners together with start-ups and talents from science so that they develop suitable solutions market-oriented. This creates a productive ecosystem. Damit start-ups can grow, good political framework is also required. You can start everywhere, do not grow. How do you judge that? Müller: that’s true, but is not a special feature of the Rhein-Main region. In the early phases, the financing usually works quite well. It becomes more difficult in the late phases-especially with deep tech topics with high disruption potential, where financing in the millions quickly become necessary. One example is laser fusion as a future energy source. So far there is no suitable contact points. In addition, we need a liquid and deep financial market. We have been talking about a real capital market union in Europe for years, but so far many start-ups preferred to have been going to the stock exchange in New York at the later stage. Here we have to get much better in Europe. The WIN initiative, based on the KfW, which points in the right direction, should be raised positively. . …. . The initiative for growth and innovation capital in Germany, an alliance of politics, business, start-ups and the KfW, which would like to strengthen the financing of start-ups and scale-ups. Müller: There were twelve billion euros in capital in the first step, three billion of KfW, nine billion privately. This should now be increased again to a total of 25 billion euros. If the structured via venture capital funds are provided, we have made an important step to manage large -volume financing on site and not from abroad. For more speed: The start-up space at the official opening on Wednesday. You celebrate the tenth anniversary this year. What have you achieved so far? Müller: We have already implemented numerous programs – both in the area of incubation for the early phase and in the area of acceleration for the growth phase. In this context, we worked with many start-ups, even co-founded, accompanied in the structure and supported in the scaling, now more than 80, and always with a strong connection to the industry. For this purpose, more than 120 industrial partners are available to us, from large corporations to medium-sized companies. With Futury Capital, in which Futury is 20 percent involved, they also invest in Start-ups.müller: Exactly, via two venture capital funds, with a total of 80 million capital. We are building the third. So far, the portfolio of companies that Futury is investing has collected more than a billion capital. This is a real economic effect. More about the topic of the topic of entrepreneurship plays? Would that no longer have to be advanced on the universities? Ott: I studied electrical engineering at the TU Darmstadt. However, the topic was hardly treated during their studies. If students are only prepared for a safe corporate or science career over five years, one should not be surprised that hardly anyone dares to take the step. This is exactly what we want to change with our partner universities and politics. Müller: The crucial question is what we focus on. We can check some topics-we will not play the leading role in the development of AI models in Europe. The situation is quite different with the industrial use of these models: Here we have a strong core that is not so easy to copy. The situation is similar in quantum computing that is becoming more important. Do we want to watch three or four years until the train has left – or finally act? The same applies to personalized medicine, medication development or new energy sources such as laser fusion. We lost a lot of time. Now it is high time to be awake. Where do you want to stand in ten years? Müller: To use the analogy in the soccer -loving region and the city: If the founding cities in Munich and Berlin are playing for the German championship, we have to make sure that we play Champions League every year. Reliable and predictable. And then we have to see if we take the German championship. But one by one.
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