Making better use of available strengths together
Start-ups are important drivers of innovation and create jobs in sectors with a future. Not only the founders benefit, but also their employees and the region where they are founded. But start-ups do not emerge in a vacuum; they are embedded in a regional ecosystem. If their development is to be promoted, this environment must be made founder-friendly. Ecosystems are complex and consist of many important actors who are connected to each other and act in a specific context.
For political decision-makers and regional start-up supporters, the task is to carefully coordinate the individual actors and offerings. There is little point in further expanding existing strengths. Rather, strategic development should begin with the weaknesses that limit the performance of the entire ecosystem. Founders and entrepreneurs should be at the centre of this. They are the most important driving force of the system.
To make regional strengths and development potential visible, the Junior Professorship for Entrepreneurship in Start-ups and Succession, endowed by Sparkasse Chemnitz, carried out the study of the start-up ecosystem in Kassel and North Hesse. The study was commissioned on the initiative of the auditing and tax consultancy Jakob & Sozien, WEGVISOR and other regional companies such as Kasseler Sparkasse.
The result is a description of the regional framework conditions for start-ups. It is based on an analysis of regional economic indicators and interviews with founders and start-up experts on site.
It shows that the Kassel start-up ecosystem is characterised by a strong position in the areas of market, infrastructure and society. There is room for improvement above all in financing, the political framework and knowledge transfer.
The individual interviews also showed that the closed and reserved local culture hampers exchange between founders and experts. In addition, there is not yet an overarching, visible start-up community where founders, entrepreneurs and experts meet and benefit from each other.
At Jakob & Sozien's Innovation Day 4.0, the individual results were presented in detail and individual recommendations were discussed. The event took place on Thursday, 12 September 2019, at Jakob & Sozien's headquarters.
Presentation: Start-up ecosystem study for North Hesse
The WEGVISOR® Leadership Foundation supports startups and startup ecosystems with its resources and its network. Photos: ® Jakob & Sozien