Siemens is also adept at startups. And is now investing heavily in this area. So it's no wonder that the launch of its in-house startup unit, next47, is being celebrated with great fanfare.
A popular event location for established companies looking to immerse themselves in the startup scene: Munich's Kesselhaus. Siemens has also noticed this, and last Monday held its launch event for next47, the global corporation's new in-house startup unit. Siemens is already causing quite a stir in advance, as the major corporation is investing one billion euros in it.
next47: Harnessing the innovative power of startups
The new unit—whose name, incidentally, is a nod to the year Siemens was founded in 1847—will consolidate all of Siemens' existing startup-related activities. Collaboration with innovative startups will be further intensified. The idea behind next47 is to combine the flexibility, speed, and independence of startups with Siemens' global customer base, long-standing experience, and financial strength.
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Siemens' Startup Unit is not only active in Munich, but also in Berkeley and Shanghai. The company aims to cover all regions of the world with this program. Cooperation with startups isn't entirely new for Siemens, as the company has been working with innovative young companies since the late 1990s – albeit often under the organizational constraints inherent in such a global corporation. This is set to change with next47. The unit is designed to operate more freely while still being able to draw on the existing Siemens ecosystem.
“Fear is the enemy of innovation”
Siemens has therefore positioned itself broadly, in keeping with the motto “Fear is the enemy of innovation”Are the startups ready too? Those presenting themselves at the launch in the Kesselhaus in the Startup Village seem to be. Among them, alongside the Munich startups, E-mobility and Franka Emika among other things Grid Singularity from Vienna or ArtiMinds from Karlsruhe.
The innovation fields to be addressed within the framework of next47 include artificial intelligence, autonomous machines, decentralized electrification and networked mobility.
So it will be interesting to see what Siemens' startup unit will produce in the future. The launch of next47 was certainly well-staged – and gives hope for more.
