At the ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT, the research university in the Helmholtz Association, whose third task – after research and teaching – is innovation, the university has the chance to rent new spaces for its own carve-outs and innovation activities and offer them long-term prospects at the site.
“The ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT bolsters innovation at KIT and intensifies close collaboration with the business world. The Hub offers our carve-outs the space to quickly turn their innovative ideas and current research findings into market-ready products that benefit both society and businesses. At the same time, it offers our graduates exciting prospects,” says KIT President Professor Hanselka. “The strategic partnership between ZEISS and KIT is the expansion of a longstanding collaboration. The ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT enables us to achieve a milestone from which both partners and the Baden-Württemberg site will benefit over the long term.”
Minister Theresia Bauer added: “This is a clear signal for the transfer of knowledge and technology in Baden-Württemberg – ZEISS and KIT are addressing the topics of technology transfer and start-up culture. The Karlsruhe region, and KIT in particular, is an excellent site for the new Innovation Hub: with its special start-up culture, established collaborations with the relevant partners in this field, and innovation as a third pillar alongside research and teaching. This is a place where not only keen founders receive support, but also where curious individuals are encouraged to try to make it on their own.”
One of the enterprises that will move into the building is Nanoscribe, a company that focuses on 3D printing and microfabrication. Nanoscribe is a KIT carve-out that was established in 2007. ZEISS was one of its stakeholders virtually from the very beginning. The company will thus be getting the space it so urgently needs for its further expansion.