What grows needs space: a new home for Bosch start-ups

Dr. Volkmar Denner,
chairman of the board of management of the Bosch Group,
at the inauguration of the Bosch Start-up Platform’s new office and workshop building,
March 19, 2018

Check against delivery.

Dear Mr. Spec, dear ladies and gentlemen,

It was an honor to accept today’s invitation to inaugurate the Bosch Start-up Platform's new office and workshop building. When we opened the predecessor building back in September 2014, we hoped to see a genuine success story unfold. And now the time has come when we need to expand from 900 square meters and 50 jobs to 5,000 square meters and 200 jobs. That is a testament to the very successful work being performed here.

The business mandate was, and remains, to generate sustainable and profitable business through fast, explorative cultivation of new markets within the Bosch target fields. Seven start-ups have been supported so far. In the field of robotics, we have already seen a successful internal transfer to Bosch Rexroth (Deepfield Robotics and Intralogistics Robotics). Another start-up – Urbanmates – has been marketed externally, which is in itself yet another manifestation of the new culture at Bosch.
We are currently supporting another five fledgling companies: CERIX, Deepfield Connect, myScotty, Mayfield Robotics, and Zenoway.
But more than that, the Bosch Start-up Platform is also home to the initiatives of various Bosch divisions. The innovation teams located here benefit from the co-working environment as well as the platform's services and infrastructure. A total of nine innovation teams from Bosch divisions encompassing more than 150 associates will work creatively in this exciting environment in future.

In addition, the “Moving beyond horizon” teams will reside in Ludwigsburg for three months again this year. These interdisciplinary and diverse teams work on disruptive solutions to complex engineering and societal challenges. I myself will serve as mentor to the team that will tackle the topic of “Clean Air in Cities”. Another important effect, aside from the work produced by the teams, is that the individual team members will serve as multipliers and take with them to their Bosch divisions what they learned here – from user experience methods to agile work methods – and thus drive forward our company’s transformation.

The opening of the new building also coincides with another change. In future, the Bosch Start-up Platform will operate under the name “Grow Platform GmbH” – or “grow” for short. This change is motivated by a drive to consolidate the various terms used in the past and to express the concept of growth within the platform’s name. However, the actual strategy remains unchanged.

In the past, we, at Bosch, have always proven successful in developing and growing start-ups. Take for instance our eBike activities, which I helped initiate some years ago in the Automotive Electronics division. As chief technology officer at Bosch, I am convinced that we can draw on our innovation power to make an essential contribution to shaping the future and driving forward our company. I would therefore like to conclude with a personal message to all the start-ups here today and throughout our company: GROW!