Heidelberg, 12.08.2020. The summer trip of the Baden-Württemberg Minister of Economy Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut on the topic “Artificial intelligence applications and benefits in the health Industry” stopped today in Heidelberg. “Today’s visit provided me a comprehensive insight into the strong life science ecosystem in the region. I appreciate how the BioRN Cluster is leading a range of translational initiatives to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that can compete with other centers of excellence on an international level. The ‘Business Development Center’ where the meeting took place is a symbol of the constructive and innovation-oriented support from the state Baden-Wuerttemberg for this area. I am sure that several new creative start-ups will emerge from this environment with its local support options and networks”, stated Hoffmeister-Kraut.
During her visit, the Minister learnt about the ambitious projects of the BioRN Life Science Cluster Rhine-Neckar to help create a rich translational ecosystem in the region.
“Exploiting the enormous innovation potential in its network and putting translation into practice became the core of BioRN’s new strategy since 2017.” said BioRN Managing Director Julia Schaft during her welcome speech. “BioRN is in a unique position to facilitate this process due to its connecting role between academia and industry”.
The meeting took place in the Business Development Center Heidelberg, one of the most recently completed projects of the Heidelberg Technology Park and the Technology Funding Heidelberg. This is also the site where “BioLabs Heidelberg” is planned to start operations in mid 2021. BioLabs, the premier life-sciences and biotech co-working company founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2010 operates highly selective co-working labs for start-ups, making it the most successful life-sciences start-up accelerator in the US. BioRN is the local coordinator to adapt this US success model for the first European BioLabs site in Heidelberg. “Among a variety of international translation support concepts, BioLabs was the most convincing. With its focus on the entrepreneur and long-standing fertile industry connections, the BioLabs model is well positioned to amplify the entrepreneurial potential of the region” said Julia Schaft during the presentation of the project.
In addition, the Minister was able to directly experience the personalised virtual reality technology of living brain, a start-up from Heidelberg revolutionizing cognitive rehabilitation in neurological disorders. HD Vision, a start-up that recently moved in the Business Development Center, live demonstrated how their robot technology -based on deep learning and light field technology, can support manufacturing companies in all aspects of industrial image processing.
„We have a wide range of diverse and promising start-ups in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Innovative businesses like these are shaping the future of healthcare and technology.
With our funding program ‘Start-up BW Pre-Seed’ we support start-ups at a very early stage to ensure they qualify for further investments. In addition, experienced managers of accelerator programs, incubators and business support organisations like the BioRN Cluster and Technology Park Heidelberg ensure the professional support beyond our pre-seed funding”, said minister Hoffmeister-Kraut.
Download the Press Release
Pressemitteilung des Ministeriums für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Wohnungsbau Baden-Württemberg (German)
Source: BioRN & Franziska Kraufmann
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