ruhrHUB promotes digital economic development in the region in a smart, contemporary and sustainable way. In that context, digitisation is the driver for new products and new business models - and digital transformation is the link for opening up new markets. As a joint initiative of DWNRW (Digital Economy NRW) and the six Ruhr area cities of Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Mülheim an der Ruhr, as well as the Business Metropole Ruhr, ruhrHUB is the digital hub for start-ups, investors and corporates in the region. As the interface with the ministry, it also ensures that funding and support from the state arrive directly where they are urgently needed: with start-ups or companies.
The ruhrHUB is the hub that connects the start-up ecosystem in the Ruhr region. Since 2016, the hub has established itself as a well-known name and has long been a reliable contact point for founders and those who want to become one. Thanks to its strong regional network of business development organisations, universities and colleges as well as national and international partners from the corporate, investment and capital venture sectors, the ruhrHUB offers an all-round package in close cooperation with other start-up support organisations to strengthen start-ups in their growth and thus make NRW's economy sustainable and viable for the future.
As a young start-up initiative, we have not only been following the local start-up scene since 2016, we are also cleverly networking business, science and start-ups. With a goal that connects: We want to give the start-up founder culture in and around the Ruhr area more media visibility and offer cross-city support for start-up founders and companies. Thanks to the close collaboration with our shareholders, we have direct access to municipal funding programs, start-up initiatives and the network of business development agencies. We also give founders a comprehensive overview of what is available in the region. In the long term, we want to create a hotspot for digital innovations that will benefit from the region's strengths and make the Ruhr area an important and visible part of the German start-up landscape.
This is where the heart of industrial tech, cyber security, the smart city and the logistics scene in Germany beats - and rightly so: Because in no other region can you find a density of universities or corporate headquarters that is comparable to here. It is literally an incubator for promising tech start-ups and digital innovations. We have the up-and-coming talent, customers and sponsors in one location.
In particular, the fields of cyber security, driven by the Bochum and Gelsenkirchen locations, or logistics in Dortmund and Duisburg, are internationally associated with the Ruhr area. We see a significant number of excellent start-ups and institutes in both fields - and the trend is increasing.
We generally categorise new technologies, primarily B2B application areas, together under industrial tech. In this field in particular, we have seen a steady stream of new teams and ideas in recent years, each paired with great expert knowledge from the universities.
The aim of the “Digital Economy NRW” initiative is the concentrated development of the North Rhine-Westphalia region as a digital location. This includes the promotion of start-ups, as well as the development of an investor scene or consistently providing an impetus for the digital transformation of established companies. The fundamental foundation involves initiating a viral and diverse digital community and continuously networking it in order to take the special circumstances of an area into account.
In order to increase the attraction of digital start-ups and spin-offs and to build up an outstanding start-up scene both throughout Germany and internationally, the digital hubs have created central nodes for the digital transformation. This is intended to enable ongoing exchange between the start-ups, and establish contacts with the first reference customers. The digital hubs have been supplemented by nationwide networks covering key topics such as AI, cyber security, blockchain and medicine.
In the meantime, many established companies in North Rhine-Westphalia have recognised how important contact with the digital start-up scene is; be it to further develop existing business models, to open up new business areas or to be able to pick up on technological progress at an early stage: They are very interested in having a lively Start-up culture right on their doorstep. Whether for example it's effective pitch training or Events in the Ruhr area such as the Start-up Nights - a dynamic has emerged here that is supported not only by the state government, but also by local sponsors and the local economy.
