The Week That Rocked Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf was recently rocked by a week-long startup festival, the Startup Woche. In this post, I look back and take stock of the impact it had.
Wow, people, what a week that was! For seven days, Düsseldorf was dedicated to startups. It was inescapable, with advertising plastered all over the city: posters, flags, banners, everything. Even now, two weeks later, there are still some of those up around town! More importantly, every single day in the Startup Woche was filled with startup events. From intimate workshops on complex legal issues, to large events in amazing venues.
Now that the dust has settled a bit, let’s see what the week brought us as a startup ecosystem, by looking at a couple of assumption we held in this city. In Düsseldorf, we always speak about how important the presence of so many big corporates is for the startups. We already had companies like Metro and E.On being very active in the local startup scene. This week, we saw engagement of large companies that before were maybe not actively engaging with startups, or maybe they were, but not in Düsseldorf. Ergo, Stadtwerke, EY, Deutsche Bank, Düsseldorf Airport and Vodafone all played an active role, and in a way that showed long term engagement with the local startup ecosystem. This is a great opportunity, and it proves that there’s a real benefit in having large company head quarters in the area.
Another assumption we had in Düsseldorf, is that of the existence of awesome, sometimes still emerging, startups. How they proved their existence, this week! Obviously, there’s Trivago, the Unicorn in the room. They were certainly present this week. But also think about the up-and-coming startups such as Just Spices and ShopCo, who were giving back to the community by sharing their stories and experiences with the next generation of founders. A great sign of a healthy startup system.
In Düsseldorf, and especially in the startup scene, we know that the city has a reputation that is not entirely true. Or at least not completely true for the entirety of the city. In Germany, Düsseldorf is regarded as a posh city: money, bling and arrogant, ruthless capitalism. Now, part of that is obviously true. Just stroll up and down the Königsallee on a sunny day, and you see what that means. To be clear: I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just saying it’s one facet of the city, and it happens to be the one that determines the reputation in the eyes of many others. However, there’s another side to Düsseldorf, a very community-driven side. Although the startup scene certainly has a flair for posh products and services, and the talent to bring cool ideas to a wealthy market, the scene is also very much a welcoming, giving and sharing community. I’ve seen many examples of how startups and other people in the scene showed their generosity, and their welcoming spirit.
I think that we can safely say this week-long startup festival called Startup Woche was an enormous success. The city initiated it, we all made it happen, and I’m absolutely sure there will be a second edition. The startup scene was already very vibrant, even though mainly underground, hidden from public view. Now, we’re out in the open. We won’t go away. We’ll only grow bigger, and better and, next to impossible, even cooler!
