New Hotspot for Start-Ups: Innovation centre TechBase opens in Regensburg

The first tenants have been on the premises for several months, and now it's finally official: The innovation centre TechBase in Regensburg was opened by Bavaria's Minister for Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner and other representatives from politics and business. The centre occupies a prime location on the TechCampus and is in the immediate vicinity of the university and the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH) in Regensburg. The supporting organisation R-Tech GmbH – an enterprise of the city of Regensburg for promoting the local IT sector – provides offices, workshops and research facilities. Entrepreneurs from the IT scene may apply for space as can start-ups from mechanical engineering, sensor technology, energy technology and optics. This gives the innovation centre a very diverse and broad base from which to promote Regensburg as a location and drive the entire start-up scene in Bavaria forward.

Room for development

The TechBase portfolio not only includes renting office space; the topic of networking also plays a key role. Along with receiving advice, TechBase tenants are also offered information and advanced training events as well as the integration in existing R-Tech technology networks. Furthermore, the organisation provides access to the right contacts and helps establish contacts between entrepreneurs and customers, partners or investors.
TechBase is only part of the efforts by the state to establish Bavaria as the state for start-ups. The model for Regensburg and other business incubators is WERK1 in Munich, which successfully brings start-up and networking activities in the digital sector together. However, the model is not simply copied; rather, specific regional competencies are integrated into every new location – in case of Regensburg, for example, this includes the existing TechCampus and the OTH.

The initial position is excellent: The City of Regensburg supports TechBase with funding amounting to EUR 28.5 million; an additional EUR 3.5 million comes from the European Union's ERDF regional development fund. This makes it possible to offer start-ups in Regensburg ideal conditions for developing their innovations and ideas into marketable products.