With the opening of a new location on Munich’s Balanstraße, Humboldt-Innovation is expanding its presence and strengthening collaboration between science and business in Germany. The subsidiary of Humboldt University of Berlin wants to send a clear signal for more cooperation in the national innovation ecosystem.
The new location is in immediate proximity to Start2Group, a strategic partner with whom the company plans to work closely in the future. The goal is to network talent, research, innovations, and startups from the Berlin metropolitan region with Bavaria’s economic strength. Bavaria, and especially Munich, is regarded as a hotspot for deep-tech with a strong medium-sized business structure, excellent research institutions, and internationally operating companies.
Strengthening the innovation location through networking
“With our new branch in Bavaria, we are setting a clear focus on involving investors to expand our national network and significantly strengthen cooperation between science and business – particularly in application-oriented research, further education, and entrepreneurship. Our Munich location can also be used by other partners from the Berlin metropolitan region to initiate projects. With Start2Group, we have a strong national partner at our side who also supports us in internationalization”,
explains Volker Hofmann, managing director of Humboldt-Innovation.
The new office is headed by Oliver Hasse. He assumes not only responsibility for the Munich location but has also been appointed deputy managing director of Humboldt-Innovation. Hasse has experience in innovation strategy, financing, and the promotion of science-based startups. Most recently, he was managing director of the INAM (Innovation Network for Advanced Materials) network.
A sign of collaboration instead of competition
With the opening of the Munich location, Humboldt-Innovation is pursuing a clear strategic goal, as Oliver Hasse explains:
“The opening of the Munich location is not just an expansion of Humboldt-Innovation, but we want to deliberately send a message: to strengthen innovation and technology transfer in Germany and Europe, we need less competition and more collaboration between ecosystems.”
To mark the official launch, Humboldt-Innovation and Start2Group are jointly organizing the “AI Startup Challenge,” a competition for startups in the artificial intelligence sector. Five teams have the opportunity to present their business ideas to a jury. The competition is intended to symbolize the beginning of more intensive collaboration between the innovation hubs in Berlin and Munich.
The new branch is to serve as a point of contact for startups, research institutions, and investors who want to advance application-oriented innovations. With its move to Munich, Humboldt-Innovation demonstrates that the future of technology transfer in Germany lies in cross-regional collaboration.
