PopUpLab Berlin – Startup meets Grownup

be Berlin showcases the German capital at the Hannover Messe

“Digital startup spirit + established industries = innovation for industries of the future” – that is the formula for success in the Berlin economy. The German capital is Europe’s top creative metropolis and the heart of the digital and startup scene. In the last year, capital investors have invested a total €2.1 billion in Berlin startups, putting the city in the pole position within Europe. Cooperation between established industry and the startup scene is essential to this success. Many major industry players have opened incubators and accelerators in Berlin in order to lead their company into the digital age from their Berlin base. This unique combination of startup and established input will be showcased at the Hannover Messe by the PopUpLab Berlin “Startup meets Grownup”, an initiative of the be Berlin capital city campaign. Since 2010, capital city marketing has promoted industry in Berlin through its industry campaign.

Dr. Stefan Franzke, Management Spokesperson for Berlin Partner for Business and Technology: “Berlin’s industrial sector is exceptional: In Berlin, it's not the chimneys that are smoking; it’s the brains and minds of our creative class that are on fire. When it comes to digitizing industry, skilled professionals and digital know-how are key factors in selecting a production location. With the dawn of Industry 4.0, it’s no longer a question of whether but when manufacturing will return to industrialized countries. In Berlin, we’re already seeing this take place.”

Startup meets Grownup: Successful cooperation from Berlin

BärDrones meets OSRAM
BärDrones develops industrial drones adapted to specific needs. OSRAM’s advanced and high-performing light sources are effective in otherwise challenging areas of application. Together, they enable industrial drones to be applied effectively, for example, in the maintenance of wind turbines.

Dr. Josef Kröll, Specialty Lighting - Innovation and IP Management, OSRAM GmbH: “In recent years, Berlin has taken the lead and become the TOP location for innovative startups in Europe. Osram promotes the capital city’s startup scene with cooperation and partnership programs. We offer young entrepreneurs manufacturing space in our facilities and support them develop successful and innovative products with our experience and expertise.”       

botspot meets ottobock
Digitize life-size versions of people at lightning speed – that is what “botscan” does. The world’s first 3D full body-scanner from the Berlin startup botspot can capture movement with needle-sharp precision. It is perfect for adapting Ottobock’s high-tech prosthetics to meet the exacting demands of professionals as fast as possible.

Manfred Ostermeier, CEO, botspot: “Berlin is THE city in Europe for 3D scanner and printing technology. The most creative minds are working here in small, innovative companies. And there is a healthy atmosphere of competition among them. They help one another rather than try to drive each other out of the market. As a result, there’s a strong network of people working primarily to advance the technology and establish Industry 4.0. Major companies have caught on to this and have therefore relocated key activities to Berlin.”


PopUpLab Berlin at the Hannover Messe

With its PopUpLab Berlin experiment, the capital city campaign be Berlin is exploring the combination of innovation-driven established industry and the city’s unique startup spirit. At the Hannover Messe, Berlin is presented as a huge creativity lab in an interactive exhibition where visitors can experience and contribute to the phenomenon of Berlin through showcased examples of Startup meets Grownup:

BigRep meets BMW Group
The Berlin-based startup BigRep, together with the BMW motorcycle factory, is embarking on an innovative experiment by printing the BMW S 1000 RR live in the largest standard 3D-printer available in the world. This is particularly exciting for prototype manufacturing at the Berlin BMW plant, where more than 130,000 premium vehicles roll off the line every year.

VFXbox meets Bayer / B. Braun Melsungen / Raumfeld by TEUFEL
At the PopUpLab, VFXbox uses augmented reality to offer insight into three Berlin companies – Bayer, B. Braun Melsungen and Raumfeld by TEUFEL, allowing them to showcase their cutting edge approach. As a startup testing new technologies and communication channels in Berlin, VFXbox is at once an advertising agency, think tank, and film and television studio.

Panono meets Berliner Energieagentur / Vattenfall / BTB
The Panono camera – a made-in-Berlin innovation – has revolutionized conventional photography. The startup’s ball camera captures 360° panorama shots with a resolution of more than 100 megapixels. With 36 lenses, the camera also captures every angle within the area photographed. Panono’s 360° images of three Berlin companies are featured: the Berliner Energieagentur’s solar power system on the roof of Berlin’s city hall, Vattenfall’s thermal control center and a day in the life of an employee at the Blockheizkraftwerks- Träger und Betreibergeselllschaft (BTB) Berlin.

pi4_robotics meets LASERLINE
The workerbot from pi4_robotics is gradually taking over the print products at LASERLINE. The humanoid factory workers at the cutting-edge Berlin company have a friendly smile and "seeing hands.” Its ultra-modern machine park makes LASERLINE one of the online pioneers in the printing industry.

Experimental Game meets Wall meets Bombardier / Coriant / HObA / Jonas & Redmann / Siemens
Experimental Game’s Gamebook Technology brings interactivity to Wall’s outdoor advertising. The startup’s pioneering game technology is a perfect fit for the progressive outdoor advertising agency‘s products. Featured here are the interactive animation films of five Berlin industrial firms: Bombardier, Coriant, HObA, Jonas & Redmann and Siemens.

Next to the Startup meets Grownup exhibition, 10 Berlin’s growth areas, will be showcased at the Hannover Messe. These areas are ideal for those seeking cooperation between industry, science and the startup scene.

Berlin industry, examples and numbers

• Over 90 percent of all BMW motorcycles are manufactured in Berlin. The company is also currently investing €100 million in its Berlin factory.

• Siemens has a workforce of roughly 12,000 employees at its manufacturing location in Berlin, which is the largest site the company has in the world. This makes Siemens the fifth lar-gest employer in Berlin. Gas turbines for clients in more than 60 countries are made in Berlin, which is also the city in which Siemens was founded in 1847.
• Daimler is investing €500 million in the expansion of its high-tech production plant. The plant opened in Berlin in 1902 and is today the company's oldest production site.
• More than 100,000 individuals are employed in industrial production in Berlin.
• More than 7,000 industrial companies are active in Berlin.

Berlin’s digital economy, examples and numbers

• Several established digital economy companies such as Zalando, Soundcloud or Home24 have grown to their current success in Berlin.
• Some 60,000 people are employed in Berlin’s digital economy.
• Since 2008, one in every eight new jobs in Berlin has emerged from the digital economy for a total of 18,000 new jobs.
• Experts predict up to 270,000 new jobs will be generated by Berlin’s digital economy by 2030.
• Some 500 new companies are founded annually in Berlin’s digital economy.
• In Berlin, 18,500 students are currently registered in IT and digital-related courses of study.

^{Sources: IHK Berlin, IBB, Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research, Berlin Partner for Business and Technology}