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North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in the heart of Europe Geographically central position in Europe – 17,5 million people – gross state product: 582,1 billion euros (22 % of German GDP) – economic hub of Europe – region with the largest concentration of universities and research facilities in Europe: 71 universities, more than 50 research centres – among them 12 Max Planck institutes, 13 institutes of the Fraunhofer Society and 11 Leibniz institutes, 3 Helmholtz centres and 13 Johannes Rau research institutes all jointly funded by federal and state governments - and some 100 research facilities attached to universities.

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)
Almost 150 million people live within about a 500-kilometer radius of the state capital, Düsseldorf. This represents a third of all consumers and 45 percent of the purchasing power in the EU. The largest cities are Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg. The most important metropolitan areas are the Ruhr Metropolis with 5.1 million inhabitants and the Rhineland with more than 3.0 million inhabitants. More foreign investments flow into the business location NRW than into any other German state: The economic center accounts for 29.9 percent of all foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. Some 18,000 international companies have already discovered the investment location and control their German or European operations from NRW.

Düsseldorf is the capital of North Rhine-Westfalia, Germany's most populous federal state and lies right in the heart of the European Market. 150 Million people live within a radius of 500 kilometres, representing 35 Percent of the European Union's total population. These and about 500.000 companies, located in Düsseldorf's catchment area, represent a huge market potential for international start-ups entering the German market. There are currently over 250 start-ups located in Düsseldorf - among them leading start-ups like Trivago, Auxmoney, Springlane, Just Spices or Eurosimtech. These are an important factor for the innovative strength of the economy in and around the state capital. As part of Düsseldorf’s start-up initiative, a long-term strategy and several projects were defined by the entire start-up community, all with one definitive goal: improving the basic conditions for start-ups and scale-ups in Düsseldorf.

 

NRW.BANK is the development bank for North Rhine-Westphalia. It essentially orients its equity products on the life cycle of the firms. Thus, the regional NRW.BANK.Seed Fund and the NRW.BANK. Kreativwirtschaftsfonds invigorate the early-phase funding in North Rhine Westphalia. Young high-tech firms are supported by funding of up to € 8 million via the NRW.BANK.Venture Fund.

For businesses with above-average growth prospects and a convincing management team NRW.BANK provides contacts to potential private investors within the win NRW.BANK Business Angels Initiative. In addition, the NRW.BANK.Mittelstandsfonds and the NRW.BANK.Spezialfonds provide equity in the amount of € 1 to 7 million to growth intensive mid-cap companies in special funding and restructuring situations.

Host Partner

BioCampus Cologne with its property area of 254.000 square meters will be one of the largest biotechnology parks in Germany. BioCampus Cologne offers Life-Science companies a pre-financed infrastructure, S1 and S2 laboratory facilities ready for occupancy with associated office space and sufficient expansion possibilities. Utilization of the shared facilities, such as the representative conference center on the eleventh floor in one of the buildings on campus, the campus restaurant with catering services and the 24/7 security service, relieve the organizational and financial burden on the companies. 

Co - Host

The Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry is an institution financed by traders, merchants and private companies; statutory membership and fees enable it to represent the general interests of industry, trade and the service sectors. The CCI contacts government and public authorities, parliaments and courts. A dialogue that is beneficial for both sides.
For Startups the CCI offers a huge range of services: support in creating your business model or business plan, advice on how to cope with loan and other support programs, information on alternative ways like venture capital and crowdfunding to finance your business, consulting you in questions of growth ... Your startup matters are our business!

The Private Equity Forum NRW e.V. is a competence centre for private equity. The combination of selected competencies from the various fields of private equity is the guarantee for the provision of high-quality information on an increasingly important investment class in the future. By pooling the competences of the members of the Association, the Private Equity Forum NRW e.V. appears as an opinion-forming agent on the market. In this way, it complements the work of the national association, the Federal Association of German Capital Participation Companies (BVK) and the international association EVCA. With its work, the Private Equity Forum NRW e.V. aims to bring more transparency into the venture capital and private equity environment. As an opinion-maker, its goal is to keep the market participants optimally up-to-date by selecting current topics.