Düsseldorf: A hotspot for start-ups and scale-ups

ERGO has recently launched a new scale-up programme, the ERGO ScaleHub. We were supported by Techhub.K67 and the economic development agency of Düsseldorf. In this interview, Christian Zaum, Head of Economic Affairs of the State Capital Düsseldorf, explains why the city is an excellent location for scale-ups and start-ups.

Christian Zaum, Head of Economic Affairs of the State Capital Düsseldorf, and Mark Klein, Chief Digital Officer of the ERGO Group

Mr Zaum, you presented the project together with our CDO Mark Klein as part of the Düsseldorf Startup Week. Why is the ERGO ScaleHub important to you?

North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany's number one start-up location, and Düsseldorf plays a very central role in this. We are a strong innovation location – we bring together all the players needed for successful company start-ups and innovation strategies. With the ScaleHub, another offer and another player is added. This is an enrichment and of course we support the offer.

Could you briefly outline how Düsseldorf is currently positioned as a location for start-ups and scale-ups? How many young companies are already based here – and what locational advantages do you offer them?

Düsseldorf's start-up ecosystem has been on an exciting and interesting journey. Over the past nine years, we, as the city administration, have made it our mission to consistently promote Düsseldorf as a location for start-up activities and to develop it in innovative ways.

These efforts have borne fruit: today, Düsseldorf has a large number of community and co-working hubs, and over the years a strong community has formed that supports and promotes each other. A great example of this is the successfully established TechHub.K67, which is attracting attention as a central multiplier in the ecosystem and is now also a partner of the ERGO ScaleHub. Since 2015, the number of start-ups has increased from 135 to 550 in 2023. In 2023 alone, there were 50 new start-ups, an increase of 6.4 per cent over the previous year.

For start-ups, being part of this vibrant scene is invaluable. Düsseldorf offers them ideal conditions, including our excellent infrastructure, the economic strength of the region and the high quality of life. Our central location in the Rhine-Ruhr region gives us access to a large market and to well-trained specialists. In addition, the numerous large corporations and medium-sized companies based in Düsseldorf create an attractive partner landscape for start-ups that can benefit enormously from cooperation and networks.

How is Düsseldorf networked when it comes to attracting international start-ups to the state capital? What are you already doing today to put yourself in the global spotlight?

Düsseldorf is very well connected when it comes to attracting international start-ups to our city. We specifically promote the location at international start-up fairs and, in recent years, have been represented by the Düsseldorf Economic Development Agency at Vivatech in Paris, London Tech Week, Slush in Finland and the Bengaluru Tech Summit in India, for example. Such a presence is essential to get us talked about worldwide.

Furthermore, we participate in international programmes such as the Impact of Business France or the Startup-Germany Tour or initiate innovation cooperation such as with French Tech Düsseldorf or the Global Acceleration Hub programme of the JETRO, which enable us to bring international talent and innovative ideas to Düsseldorf in a targeted manner. We also regularly receive startup delegations from abroad, for example in the field of CleanTech from Sweden or delegations from Nigeria, which are organised by the German Society for International Cooperation.

Our collaboration with international partners is also an important part of our strategy. For example, we work closely with partners in the Netherlands, Poland, Japan and India, among others, and organise trade fair and company visits in Düsseldorf for selected start-ups. One specific example is the MedX programme, which we launched to offer international start-ups the opportunity to present themselves at Medica and exchange ideas with other start-ups. We have also recently created a similar programme in the circular economy. At the Circular X Challenge, up-and-coming circular economy start-ups can pitch for a place at the Circular Valley Convention, which is newly based in Düsseldorf. We are very excited to see how the format develops.

It is important that we seek contact with scalable start-ups because they are the innovation drivers of tomorrow who will make the location future-proof. But they are also our ambassadors to the home country, telling people about Düsseldorf and conveying: they really took good care of me and there is a lot going on there, in the direction of green tech, AI, digital health and so on.

At the Future Tech Fest, you could see that Düsseldorf is being noticed internationally. And here, too, we have created a comprehensive offering for the international start-up ecosystem. We receive a great deal of appreciation for this, for example when we hold start-up seminars in English or Chinese to make it easier for international founders to get started in our city.

Extrapolating this positive trend into the future: What is your vision of Düsseldorf as a ‘ScaleHub’ in ten years – and how should the collaboration within the framework of the offer contribute to this?

Our vision for Düsseldorf over the next ten years is clear: We want to develop the location in such a way that we play a leading role as a hotspot for start-ups and scale-ups not only regionally but also nationally. Although we are currently still lagging behind cities like Berlin and Munich in terms of the sheer number of start-ups, if we look at ourselves as a region, we can certainly keep pace with the major start-up ecosystems. We want to continue and further strengthen this upward trend, because North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany's number one start-up location.

In this context, the ScaleHub programme is an important part of the overall offering that the location makes to start-ups and scale-ups. It is always important for us to stay in touch with the companies and, of course, to be effective with our municipal services, which gives us the opportunity to make the location even more attractive and to continuously improve the conditions for innovation. ERGO's commitment in this area shows that together we have taken the right path.

Our goal is to create an ideal business climate in the state capital that attracts not only local start-ups but also international founders. With well-thought-out and sensible service packages, we want to make it easier for foreign start-ups in particular to enter the German market and ensure that their relocation to Düsseldorf goes as smoothly as possible. In the next ten years, the ScaleHub will be an integral part of the ecosystem and hopefully have inspired other players to follow suit, benefiting from the good ecosystem in Düsseldorf.

In the next ten years, we will be a leading ‘ScaleHub’ that offers start-ups and scale-ups the best possible conditions for their growth.

Could you give us a specific example to illustrate how the city administration can provide tangible support for national and international scale-ups participating in the ERGO ScaleHub programme?

Our offering for start-ups a nd scale-ups is very comprehensive and covers a wide range of areas. In particular, start-ups from non-EU countries face specific challenges, such as visa issues and setting up a company in Germany. This is where our International Business Service team from the Office of Economic Development comes in. They provide a first point of contact where start-ups and scale-ups can get advice to get off to a successful start in Düsseldorf.

Once the companies are established in Düsseldorf, access to our strong and dynamic start-up ecosystem is of central importance for the further success of the founders. The city administration facilitates this access and actively supports networking with established companies. We also regularly organise networking events that provide excellent opportunities to make valuable contacts within the industry.

We also support the growing scale-ups in their spatial growth. As soon as the first phase of the ScaleHub programme has been successfully completed and larger premises may be needed, our real estate service is ready to help with its expertise and know-how in finding a location. Our goal is to enable scale-ups to develop optimally in Düsseldorf and to see long-term prospects for their companies here.

The close cooperation with ERGO already has a long tradition in Düsseldorf...

Exactly. For ERGO, as one of the largest employers in the region, and for us as the state capital of Düsseldorf, the new programme is a further facet of a long-standing and successful partnership. Since 2019, ERGO has been providing the city with project-related support for various digital initiatives, for example for the Kunstpalast art museum and the central library. This collaboration shows how diverse and fruitful our cooperation is.

ERGO has also been a long-standing partner of Startup Week Düsseldorf, which will be continued under the international name ‘Startup Week Düsseldorf’ from 2025. ERGO has already demonstrated its commitment to the start-up scene here in the past. So it's clear to see: we have very similar ideas about which topics will help Düsseldorf to move forward and where we can achieve a lot by joining forces.

Thank you very much for this interview!

Interview: Ingo Schenk