RWTH's Innovation Incubator Moves to Campus Jahrhunderthalle

27/11/2020

The Collective Incubator, RWTH’s expanding innovation platform, is set to move into its new premises at Campus Jahrhunderthalle in Jülicher Straße, Aachen. The new site provides 4,000 square meters of space for offices, meeting rooms, seminar rooms, and workshop spaces. Furthermore, the new facilty has a 1,000 square meter workshop area for the construction of prototypes.

 

The new premises of the innovation hub are located on the site of the former electrical engineering company Garbe-Lahmeyer & Co. The listed building is currently being renovated and refurbished by Kadans Science Partner, a developer and operator of industrial and office buildings. The space extends over four floors and will initially be rented for a period of ten years.

The innovation platform will be operated by RWTH Innovation GmbH. Supported by ESC.NRW, a funding program of the NRW Ministry of Business, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy, RWTH aims to establish one of the largest tech incubators in Europe. “We want to excel at transforming ideas and innovations into start-up businesses and thus to put Aachen and the entire region on the map as a start-up hub on a par with Berlin and Munich,” explains Professor Malte Brettel, vice-rector for business relations at RWTH and managing director of RWTH Innovation GmbH.

Currently, a smaller-scale 500 square meter “pop-up” version of the Collective Incubator is in operation near Aachen Central Station, providing student projects, initiatives and start-up companies with an ideal environment for entrepreneurship and growth. Since its opening at the beginning of 2020, it is being used by about 95 start-ups and student entrepreneurs.

“We are closely collaborating with partners from business and industry, who are looking for innovative solutions to real-world business problems or who want to get in touch with young talents from RWTH,” explains project coordinator David Beuemers. Beumers, Johannes Schäfer and other students founded the Collective Incubator in 2017.