Opening of the Start-up Labs Bahrenfeld

Young companies and start-ups in the fields of physics and biophysics have a new home in the west of Hamburg: "The future Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld offers the best location conditions for scientific institutes, start-ups and innovative companies," said Hamburg's First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher at the official opening. "With the Start-up Labs Bahrenfeld, we are creating a place in the neighborhood of DESY where innovative products and applications are created from basic research and clever ideas."

Science Senator Katharina Fegebank added: "It is exciting to see how the collaboration between DESY and the University of Hamburg will create new space for cutting-edge research and new forms of exchange for innovation in the new start-up labs. Bright minds can develop and implement their ideas and later turn them into spin-offs and innovative products. This is crucial for scientific transfer and also for economic growth with innovation as a driver of progress and answers to the most pressing questions of the future: in the coming years, for example, forward-looking research in the field of lasers and photonics will also develop concrete products and services here in the future Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld that we will all encounter in our everyday lives or that will improve our lives."

Laboratories and workshops, offices and meeting rooms have been created on 2,700 square meters. Need and demand are high - a large part of the Start-up Labs space has already been let. The thematic diversity of the young companies is great and ranges from synchronization systems to individualized tests for cancer diagnostics. The age of the companies also ranges from absolute start-ups to companies that have already established themselves on the market. But they all have one thing in common: An origin in complex, science-driven products or services. Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors, pointed out a major advantage: "This also allows the founders to exchange ideas with each other across professional boundaries and achieve many synergy effects."

The start-up labs are operated by Innovationszentrum Forschungscampus Hamburg-Bahrenfeld GmbH. Its Managing Director is Arik Willner, Chief Technology Officer at DESY. He said: "Especially in times of a pandemic, young founders need active support from experienced colleagues from research and industry in order to be successful in the long term in economically difficult times." The DESY campus in Bahrenfeld also offers ideal conditions for this thanks to the research network with scientific institutions such as the University of Hamburg and the Max Plack Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter.

"The Startup Labs Bahrenfeld support innovative breakthroughs on the long road from basic research to successful market entry," said Jetta Frost, Vice President of the University of Hamburg. Michael Westhagemann, Senator for Economic Affairs, also sees his strategy confirmed: "The Start-up Labs are an excellent link in the innovation chain between the DESY ecosystem and Innovationspark on Vorhornweg. Thanks to the new excellent infrastructure, start-ups can be optimally supported in their development and networking. In future, the start-up labs will be flanked by two other important projects, the 'tecHHub' and the 'DESY Innovation Factory' at Innovationspark will flank them."

This is also confirmed by the companies in the new innovation center, for whom the start-up labs are the right infrastructure in the right place: "The fact that we were able to move in here is a real stroke of luck for us," said Julian Becker, CEO of X-Spectrum GmbH, which builds high-end detectors for research. "We have competent contacts to support us at all times. The connection to the campus infrastructure of DESY is a real plus for us."