“Augsburg – The Silicon Valley of Swabia?” was the title of the joint event organized by Deutsche Bank and Charrier Rapp & Liebau. They invited to the Technology Center Augsburg on September 29, 2016.

You can see all pictures of the event here.

by Rebecca Weingarten, Online Editorial Office

Just south of San Francisco lies Silicon Valley. For more than 40 years, this area has been producing innovative startups. Many of these companies develop into internationally successful corporations in a short period of time. “The attributes associated with Silicon Valley also fit Swabia and especially Augsburg as a business location,” says Christoph Griesser, Head of Corporate Clients Market Area Bavaria Southwest at Deutsche Bank. Together with Wolfgang Hehl, Managing Director of Augsburg Innovationspark GmbH, he welcomed the numerous guests.

The Silicon Valley effect is catching up with Swabia

“Times have changed. Innovation cycles are much shorter than they used to be. But not only have speed and complexity increased, much more money is needed. For companies, these factors are increasingly becoming a challenge,” says Wolfgang Hehl. “Our goal at the Augsburg Technology Center is to bring knowledge sources together with knowledge users.” To this end, science and business are brought closer together in and around the Augsburg Technology Center. To this end, investments are also being made in research and development at the site. For example, the foundation stone was recently laid for the new Material Resource Management building in the immediate vicinity of the Augsburg Technology Center. Business and science benefit from each other. More and more companies are settling here.

Details matter

Last but not least, financing and securing new innovations also play a key role in success. During the event, two presentations outlined ways in which SMEs can best position themselves in this regard. The presentations by Dr. Stefan Gerhsitz, Patent Attorney & Partner at Charrier Rapp & Liebau, and Stephan Dietrich, Public Funding Specialist at Deutsche Bank, provided exciting insights here. They also discussed to what extent long-established mechanisms will still be sufficient in the future and what new ways can strengthen companies. The networking that followed provided an opportunity for in-depth discussions.