Without functioning networks, business is difficult – it isn’t a coincidence that clusters such as Silicon Valley evolved almost naturally. But you don’t have to look enviously to the US, we also have some exciting clusters in Germany and in the Southwest especially: Just think of the Automotive industry around Stuttgart, the high-tech region of Karlsruhe with KIT and deep-tech startups, or the Rhine-Neckar area built around giants like SAP or BASF.

The innovation community: Bringing startups, corporates and science together
But what we can adapt from the States is bringing all these minds and thinkers from different industries together, to jointly work on the challenges of the future. Only bringing a diverse set of innovative minds together will enable us to develop solutions for the future.
With Zukunftstüftler („Zukunft” is German for future, and “Tüftler” is German for tinkerers), we aim to create this very platform. At our premiere event, we’ll bring together the very best from the ecosystem of Karlsruhe – a city characterized by science and high-tech – with the Stuttgart network – our state capital with exciting companies.
Opening event of the Zukunftstüftler series with strong partners
We’ll celebrate our debut on September 18, 2019 with the Karlsruhe Technology Factory as “host” and Daimler Startup Autobahn as partner. The „Technologiefabrik”, our current home of choice, is one of the most successful technology incubators in Germany and can proudly look back on a successful track record of more than 30 years. Startup Autobahn in turn connects its corporate partners (including companies like Daimler, T-Systems and Webasto) with exciting startups from all over the world. We are excited to bring these two worlds even closer together.
tl;dr: Zukunftstüftler 2019 at a glance
- Where? At Technologiefabrik Karlsruhe
- When? Wednesday, 18.09.2019 from 09:30 to 16:00
- Who? Corporates, startups, students and scientists
- What is it about? Technology and innovation focused on the fields of Future Mobility, Smart Enterprise, and Sustainability.
The program of Zukunftstüftler 2019
Content-wise, the event focuses on three key-areas, which we believe will significantly influence the development over the next few years of our industrial clusters, large companies and SMEs:
- Future Mobility
- Smart Enterprise
- Sustainability
Our stated goal is to create a fruitful ground for networking and joint ideas with this conference. In addition to exciting keynotes, you can expect many interactive formats, such as reverse pitches with innovation challenges, match-making or a startup safari.
What makes the conference so unique?
Zukunftstüftler is a conference “from startups for startups”, with the goal to create synergies. The focus is on the productive and future-oriented exchange of corporates, startups and scientists, without creating much “blah blah”. This is supported by various formats in which the hidden potentials of scientists, students, startups and corporates are to be awoken.
… but how much is it?
Yes, the question of money is virtually indispensable in Swabia (“Schwaben”), but it’s also relevant to startups, scientists or employees, as we have yet to meet someone with an unlimited budget. Hence, we have decided to keep the ticket prices as low as possible – after all, the community spirit should be at the center of the event. The tickets for students and scientists are thus even completely free, tickets for startups and founders cost only €10 per person and for corporates, it’s only €35 per person.
The future does not wait
We would be very happy to welcome you at our opening event (tickets are available here). And we would be even more pleased if you were to play an active role in the event. If you are interested in an exhibitor booth, joining the startup safari or participating in a reverse pitch, feel free to contact us! By the way, there are no additional costs. 🙂