Two new start-up funding projects in the Munich metropolitan area

Jan 04, 2022
Aiwanger: “Start-ups can develop into the SMEs of tomorrow”

MUNICH Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger welcomes the good development of the Munich metropolitan area as a region for start-ups. The occasion is two new offers for start-up projects based on artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent robotics, which are being created by the Federal Government and the Free State.

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is funding the further development of the AI ecosystem as a whole as well as individual AI start-ups in the Munich region with 5.9 million euros. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs (StMWi) is supporting the establishment of a deep-tech incubator for start-up projects in the field of intelligent robotics with around 1.5 million euros.

Aiwanger: “Munich is becoming a European hotspot for start-ups. In some areas, such as InsurTech, the state capital already ranks among the global leaders. We also want to occupy these positions in AI and intelligent robotics. Therefore, the Federal Government and the Free State of Bavaria are creating additional opportunities to develop and implement suitable business models.”

The aim of the AI+MUNICH project, which is funded by the BMWi, is to bring together the AI partners in the Munich region to form a powerful alliance, to develop and scale AI start-up ideas and to speed up the transfer of AI research from universities to industry. The coordinator is MUC SUMMIT GmbH, which is already funded by the StMWi for the establishment of the Munich Innovation Ecosystem.

Through Robo.Innovate, pre-start-up teams get access to infrastructures (including a development lab for robot apps), technological teaching and training, as well as tailor-made courses in the field of entrepreneurship and venturing. The implementation is being carried out by the Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Interfaces will be created to existing initiatives, e.g. the TUM Venture Labs or the digital incubators.

Aiwanger: “Start-ups can develop into the SMEs of tomorrow. They transfer innovations to existing companies through orders and collaborations. Our smart founders are a guarantee that Bavaria will help shape the transformation that is taking place.”

The StMWi has massively expanded start-up funding in recent years. New measures under the High-Tech Agenda Plus are:

  • Topping up the existing start-up funding programmes Flügge, Start?Zuschuss! and BayTOU;
  • New funding programme Start-up International;
  • Robo.Innovate;
  • Bayern Innovativ start-up guide;
  • Bavarian-French AI Cup for pre-start-up teams;
  • New ScaleUp-Fonds Bayern and ScaleUp-Dachfonds Bayern (total volume EUR 250 million).

Aiwanger: “Take a look at www.gruenderland.bayern – you can find a good overview of our offers for founders and the important contacts there.”

Source: StMWi
Press number: PM 2/22