Bosch and Berlin Senate support innovative startups in the German capital

Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany – Bosch is joining forces with Berlin’s Senate Department for Economics, Energy, and Public Enterprises: as part of the European Social Fund’s Berlin Startup Stipendium program, they will support 27 entrepreneurs on the new Bosch IoT campus, located at Tempelhofer Hafen in Berlin’s creative Ullsteinhaus district. Ramona Pop, who is responsible for economic affairs on Berlin’s governing senate, visited Bosch Software Innovations today as part of her summer tour and used the opportunity to present the grant letter in person. The subsidiary of the globally operating Bosch Group develops software-based solutions for IoT applications.

Pop said: “Through its IoT campus and support for startups, Bosch is playing an important role in Berlin, creating jobs that are fit for the future. I’m very happy that we can fund these efforts and in turn benefit from the extraordinary opportunities presented by a major international company. With the Berlin Startup Stipendium, we are promoting the development of innovations and the internationalization of Berlin’s economy.”

Through its IoT campus and support for startups, Bosch is playing an important role in Berlin, creating jobs that are fit for the future.

Ramona Pop, responsible for economic affairs on Berlin's governing senate

Michael Hahn, member of the executive management of Bosch Software Innovations, said: “To drive forward IoT innovations in the best possible way, we need to open doors for partners. And that’s exactly what we’re doing at the Bosch IoT campus, where we pool our many years of experience and our expertise together with the innovative ideas of young startups.”

To drive forward IoT innovations in the best possible way, we need to open doors for partners.

Michael Hahn, member of the executive management of Bosch Software Innovations

Encouraging innovative business ideas for the IoT

Financing for the 17-month project, which has an overall cost of some 600,000 euros, comes from the European Social Fund (ESF) and the state of Berlin. The startups on the Bosch IoT campus consist of teams of two to four people, who contribute groundbreaking business ideas on various aspects of the internet of things (IoT). Over a five-month period, they receive monthly grants of 1,800 euros per person. Bosch, for its part, provides a state-of-the-art facility and technical expertise. Each startup can take advantage of the rooms and workstations on the Bosch IoT campus, all equipped with the latest technology, and specialized project staff coach and train the team members. The aim is to strengthen their entrepreneurial acumen and further refine their products and services to get them ready for market.

Since 2005, the Senate Department for Economics has been working with the ESF to support innovative startups – to the tune of 39.8 million euros in the current funding period. Those funds have helped up to 1,330 entrepreneurs as they develop their technology-based business ideas in “founder workshops” and similar incubator formats until they are market-ready. Recently, the program has expanded to support transnational endeavors. This means it will promote the exchange of ideas and experience with similar European funding programs outside Germany, support collaboration with comparable projects and incubators, and assist with the launch of startups in international markets as well as the European single market.