STARTUP MANNHEIM & B-WIP

„The Mannheim startup ecosystem is unmatched anywhere in Germany,“ says Israeli Deputy Consul General Jonathan Glick. „In my role as Deputy Consul General, I travel extensively throughout southern Germany, but nowhere else have I encountered a city with such a highly developed infrastructure for founders. Christian Sommer and I met several times in Mannheim and Munich over the following months. During these meetings, we spoke at length about Mannheim and Tel Aviv, about entrepreneurship and innovation, and about the opportunities and potential for collaboration. We quickly agreed that it was time to build a bridge between the two cities.“ As part of the structured, ten-week accelerator program, senior executives work alongside the startups on predefined digital challenges, products, or other innovation initiatives. To ensure the greatest possible potential of this program format, participating startups are selected based on their content being an optimal fit for the predefined requirements and needs of the participating partner companies. Participation in the program without a specific innovation challenge is also possible. To make this process even more efficient, the assigned employees receive additional „Corporate Innovation Training“ from Roland Berger during the program. These workshops cover innovation methods such as Lean Startup, rapid prototyping, and design thinking, as well as the challenges of collaborating with dynamic startups. „It’s not just the technologies that complement each other well here in Mannheim, but above all the people,“ says Vice Consul General Jonathan Glick. „Mannheim is a true startup city on its way to becoming a smart city. You can feel an incredible energy here that surrounds the entire innovation sector. This applies to both the city administration and the STARTUP MANNHEIM startup ecosystem. There is an exceptionally high level of willingness to innovate and collaborate. I appreciate the professional humility of the people involved, who—despite their outstanding successes—have retained the ability to remain open to new influences and to constantly learn new things. These are qualities that are, unfortunately, often missing in other cities and regions.“ Want to learn more?

Click here for the interview with Israeli Deputy Consul General Jonathan Glick.