Where science and technology create business success in Berlin

Discover Berlin’s collaborative, creative core – the technology centres bringing brilliant business ideas to life.

With its appealing living and working environments, Berlin offers entrepreneurs ample opportunities and space to make exciting things happen. The German capital benefits from well-connected commercial, industrial and technological locations that provide superb conditions to innovate, collaborate and even launch new businesses.

Zukunftsorte – Innovative Places of the Future

This network of spaces known as the Zukunftsorte (“locations of future innovations”) is home to first-rate research, teaching and some of the world’s most influential companies and creative minds. The city-wide locations offer sustainable urban development that benefit from centrality, interlinked living, commercial spaces and proximity to science and industry networks.

Some of stand-out Zukunftsorte locations include:

Adlershof Technology Centre

The birthplace of German aviation has transformed to become one of the most successful high-tech locations in Germany. Today, in addition to Berlin’s largest media site, Adlershof is home to over a thousand companies and scientific institutions. Photonics, optics, material and microsystems technology, renewable energies, biotechnologies, IT and media – all thrive here.

From collaborating with specialists to networking with thought leaders, you’ll find plenty of possibilities to turn your innovative idea into reality. Roughly 16,000 employees and 6,235 university-level students currently work and carry out research at the location.

Equally, the Adlershof business incubator provides special services for startup entrepreneurs and young innovative companies.

Campus Berlin-Buch

For over 100 years, Buch has been recognised for outstanding science and medicine. Located in the Northeast of the city, today the Berlin-Buch campus is focused on the healthcare industry, life sciences, biotechnology and medicine.

The BiotechPark is the largest of its kind in Germany and is home to more than 50 companies pushing the boundaries of molecular diagnostic procedures and therapies, in addition to research and pharmaceutical services.

Besides being able to rent moderately-priced, industry-specific lab and office spaces, entrepreneurs and startups can also access the onsite innovation and incubation centre.

The Campus Berlin-Buch is also home to leading research institutes like the Max Delbrück Centrum for Molecular Medicine (MDC), the Experimental and Clinical Research Center and the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology.

EUREF-Campus

The business and science park EUREF-Campus is a hub for innovators working in energy, sustainability or mobility. Here you’ll find more than 100 companies and research institutions developing intelligent solutions for the cities of the future. Cisco, General Electric and Deutsche Bahn are just some of the global heavyweights you can connect with.

It’s also home to the Innovation Center for Mobility and Societal Change, research institutions like the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, and the Climate-KIC and the Social Science Research Center Berlin.

Leading energy revolution, EUREF uses renewable energy and a local micro-smart grid to support carbon-neutral energy supplies – and has already achieved Germany’s climate targets for 2050. Not only is the campus a testing platform for electro-mobility, but it also has the largest electric re-charging station in Germany.

In addition to offering ample opportunity to connect and collaborate with energy visionaries, EUREF also hosts over 300 wide-ranging events and seminars to choose from.

Leading in sustainable mobility, automated driving and wearables

Besides having leading technology centres, Berlin is also a mecca for smart textiles. The city’s revolutionary research projects and innovative facilities are helping to drive the future of wearables forward. The city is home to research institutes like the Fraunhofer IZM, along with Europe’s hottest wearable electronics and design conference Wear It Festival, and FASHIONTECH during Berlin Fashion Week.

As a pioneer of automated driving, even before Google, Berlin was developing an autonomous vehicle at Freie Universität Berlin in 2011. Today it continues this work with such key projects as DIGINET-PS, a digital test field for automated and networked driving.

From supporting green electricity to zero-waste lifestyles and more, Berlin is developing creative solutions for a brighter, better, renewable future. For instance, in collaboration with the city’s agency for smart and electric mobility – eMO, the capital is creating a connected, automated, shared, and sustainable mobility through work focused on areas like integrating smart vehicles into the transport system.

Bridging the gap to fuel innovation

Berlin’s technology parks and incubators are a crucial bridge between existing markets and emerging innovation. By connecting startups to experienced players in the sector, agile new businesses can get the support they need to advance to the next level.

The Technology Park incubators offer shared state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, work spaces on flexible terms and a range of helpful support services, often tailored to the startups specific needs. These environments allow early-development stage companies to access resources well beyond their own financial abilities and networks. Business mentoring, coaching and collaboration, training programmes, and strategy planning are just some of the benefits of being located in one of the cities technology parks.

By fostering communication and collaboration between governments, universities and private companies, young companies in these centres have the self-confidence, space and the support they need to succeed.