Interview with Eric Menges about Startup Guide Germany and our Regional Startup Ecosystem
Last week, together with Station, we had the chance to interview Eric Menges, CEO of FrankfurtRheinMain Gmbh about the book, Startup Guide Germany and the development of the regional ecosystem in Frankfurt Rhein Main area. German version here> https://station-frankfurt.de/2020/06/26/noch-bis-zum-6-juli-nominierungen-fuer-den-startup-guide-germany/
Now, we publish the English version:
Why did you decide to support the Startup Guide Germany?
First of all, I would like to emphasize that this support is a real team effort between the State of Hessen, the IHK Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Economic Development Agency. It is important for all of us to show that, while we may not be the center of the world when it comes to startups, the region around Frankfurt Airport has an ever-growing and increasingly relevant ecosystem that offers excellent conditions for subsidiaries and startups alike. Here, rapidly growing startups meet well-established and highly successful companies from the real economy and financial sector. Such an ecosystem is unique in Germany and creates an environment of innovation from which everyone benefits. In addition, we are one of the most international locations in Europe, where people from more than 180 nations come together.
Due to our long history as an international trade fair location and as Continental Europe’s financial center, internationality is in our blood and business English is our second mother tongue. We gladly invite the whole world to experience this welcoming atmosphere; therefore, the Startup Guide Germany is an excellent medium. We have enjoyed a long collaboration with the Startup Guide Frankfurt, which has been a very positive experience for us.
How do you see the development of the Startup Ecosystem in FRM?
For a long time, the startup community was drawn to other cities in Germany and Europe, and FrankfurtRheinMain didn’t play much of a role. Due in part to the decentralized structure of the region, it was difficult to see at first glance what economic power and diversification we are dealing with here. But 6 million people live in our region; the headquarters of Software AG and SAP, for example, are only 30 minutes away from Frankfurt Airport. As such, many people had to come together here to create the necessary structures that leave us looking very different today than we once did. By that I don´t just mean the well-established and internationally renowned Fintechs in and around Frankfurt or the cybersecurity startups around the universities in Darmstadt. There are also countless successful startups from the areas of AI, Blockchain, Proptech, Legaltech, Creative and Social Entrepreneurship, to name just a few. The successful Deutsche Bank app was built in the company's own digital factory, which is located just outside the city center.
Nevertheless, it is clear to all of us there is still need for further development, which is why we continue to promote the networking of relevant actors, bringing the startups together with established companies, investors, accelerators, incubators and research institutions. We are getting the word out about the many advantages of our location to help attract the attention of global talent, who would serve as driving forces of the startup ecosystem.
Last week, a big delegation of FrankfurtRheinMain took part in Collision from Home, a Web Summit conference normally hosted in Toronto. It seems that there is an increase in efforts to strengthen relationships with other startup ecosystems as well. Any priorities in terms of geographies or business verticals?
To first answer your question about our participation in the Collision tech conference, the US and Canada are among the most important target countries for FRM GmbH. Canada in particular has really seen strong development in recent years. Frankfurt and Toronto have been partner cities for 30 years now, so we can link our activities very efficiently. But above all, we see great potential for investment projects coming out of the US into the FrankfurtRheinMain region, especially from the ICT field, which is currently being shaped by two game-changers: the Corona crisis in the foreground and Brexit in the background. We will, therefore, be present where companies from the most important international tech clusters meet. Independent of the major events, we focus on this effect not only on the West and East coasts of the USA, but also London, Tel Aviv, Singapore, and Tokyo. While doing so, it is important to us that we do not poach startups from other locations, but rather help young companies to establish an additional foothold in the middle of Europe´s largest economy.
How can more stakeholders support the FrankfurtRheinMain ecosystem in becoming more visible and powerful worldwide?
The deciding factors for an international company to settle in FrankfurtRheinMain have always been accessing to a large and ever-growing market, the presence of industry clusters and the existence of an excellent logistic and digital infrastructure.
But we have seen in recent years that access to startups and the creative talent and new technologies associated with them has become increasingly relevant to our attractiveness as a location, especially when the decision is about where to place a regional headquarters, R&D, or other innovation function. Then it becomes important whether FrankfurtRheinMain’s startup ecosystem is internationally relevant, productive and competitive.
The difference between FrankfurtRheinMain and other ecosystems is the presence of the world’s largest internet exchange point, the DE-CIX. This difference will play itself out in light of Corona and Brexit and promise the region’s continued transformation to a growing startup hub with exciting companies from the real economy and financial sector. The DE-CIX, along with datacenters and cloud service providers (including the world’s largest internet companies!), thus plays an equally important role as a deciding factor for startups andwell-established companies across all industries.
Everyone in the ecosystem can help bring this power in focus and enhance our prominence on the international stage. This also helps attract more venture capital, which is critical to success in mid and late-stage funding, and all this in order to position ourselves as competitive with other startup ecosystems. Acquiring or establishing major tech events is another way to support this.
Last question, TNW and FDI ranked Frankfurt as 13th in the top 25 future tech cities in Europe and scored it as 9th in terms of potential. Do you foresee some good success stories soon?
We see and classify a lot of rankings. At first glance, they are always welcome because, on the surface, they simplify the comparison of locations. But what sustainability, added value, or long-term effects are hidden behind the numbers? These questions remain unanswered. But regardless of how we do in rankings, we don´t let ourselves become distracted or controlled by
them and prefer to focus on how we can uniquely position ourselves on the playing field, show our strengths and support companies as best we can.
Reminder, nominations for projects to be featured at Startup Guide Germany are still open link to follow: http://startupguide.com/form/tsNqHa
Some shots at the launch of Startup Guide Frankfurt in 2019:
More about FrankfurtRheinMain Gmbh:
