Next step for Germany's AI ecosystem: hessian.AI and Futury launch strategic partnership to support AI startups
The Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI) and Futury announce a strategic partnership that creates a seamless path from AI research to market success. The complementary combination of AI Startup Rising| hessian.AI's research-based approach with Futury's industry-oriented programs strengthens the consistent support system for AI startups in Hesse — from research idea to international scaling. This includes a coordinated financing process from early validation to growth financing. In addition, the startups have access to a powerful infrastructure that includes one of the leading AI clusters in Europe and a modern hub in Frankfurt. Using AI tools specifically for start-up funding is also a focus point.
Complete support for AI startups from idea to market readiness
The Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI) and Futury — TheFuture Factory are joining forces. The strategic alliance is intended to close the critical gap between research excellence and market application in a more targeted manner. While the AI Startup Rising (AISR) project from hessian.AI brings its strengths in research-related AI development and technical validation, Futury's focus is on practice-oriented application with direct access to industry partners and growth capital.
The partnership aims to support the entire value chain of AI startups and to facilitate the transfer of research into practice. In addition to the joint organization of events and an accelerator program, the cooperation will in future include a comprehensive range of services for every phase of start-up development.
“We're expanding our support offerings for AI startups into a seamless support ecosystem that covers all stages of development,” explains TobiaSkehl, co-leader of the AI Startup Rising | hessian.AI project. “Our joint accelerator in Bertramshof will be at the heart of this integration — this is where research-excellent AI technologies meet industrial application expertise and scaling expertise.”
Melissa Ott, managing director of Futury, adds: “With this partnership, we are building a continuous bridge between talent scouting in teaching, AI research and market readiness. The combination of our strengths — hessian.AI with its specialized AI expertise and Futury with our industrial application know-how — creates a unique offering for AI founders. In our new physical Hubam Bertramshof, AI startups have direct access to corporate partners and the opportunity to actively exchange ideas on pilot projects and application space. ”
Charlie Müller, CEO of Futury, adds: “This collaboration is another step towards establishing the Rhine-Main region as an important location for AI innovation in Germany and offering startups the perfect platform for growth and scaling. ”
Use AI tools specifically for Startup funding
A key element of the cooperation is the innovative use of AI technologies to support the startups themselves. “We use AI not only as an object of research, but as a strategic multiplier for the startup ecosystem,” explains AI Startup Rising Co-Lead Carlina Bennison. The partners want to jointly develop AI-based tools for automated scouting of research potential, personalized coaching approaches, intelligent talent matching processes, as well as KI-based support in preparing business plans and investor documents. Bennison continues: “These AI-based methods will initially be used in the hessian.AI AI cluster and will be rolled out to Futury's entire offering in the future. In doing so, we want to create a sustainable innovation base for the entire startup ecosystem. ”
Strong infrastructure and streamlined financing support
The collaboration offers AI startups access to an outstanding infrastructure: The “42" and “43" supercomputer clusters from Hessian.aige are among the most powerful AI clusters in Europe and enable the efficient training of AI models. With Bertramshof inFrankfurt, Futury offers a 2,000 sqm physical hub with 170 workplaces, which will open in August 2025.
In addition, the startups benefit from a coordinated funding channel — from early Lean AI Startup Funding (30'000€ per team) from hessian.AI to the Factory Fund from Futury with a total target volume of 40 million euros. A joint pool of mentors with over 100 experts from AI research and industry as well as access to international networks in Intel Aviv, Boston and Dubai complete the offer.
Important steps for a strong AI ecosystem in Hesse and the entire Rhine-Main region
Developing the entire region into a leading ecosystem for safe, responsible and innovative KI startups — that is the common vision of the two partners. With the goal of supporting over 1000 startups in the region by 2030, AI startups will also be a central part of this project. With a focus on promoting innovative AI solutions, hessian.AI and Futury are jointly accelerating the development of an internationally competitive AI innovation ecosystem in the region.
The first joint events will take place as early as April and May 2025:
The event AIConnects on April 23 at CentralStationDarmstadt and the IndustryKickoff Mid-June with a focus on cybersecurity, AI and data. The launch of the first joint accelerator is planned for 2025.
background:
About hessian.AI | AI Startup Rising
The Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI), located at the Technical University of Darmstadt, pursues the goal of carrying out excellent basic research with concrete practical relevance and also promoting transfer to business and society. The AIStartUp Rising project manages the founding activities of hessian.AI. Since 2022, over 200 AI pre-start-up projects and startups have been supported, more than 160 teams have been listed on the AI Startup Landscape Hessen and programs ranging from AI Masterclasses to the Rising Accelerator have been offered.
www.hessian.ai
About Futury - The Future Factory
Future is an innovation platform that brings companies and startups together to overcome transformative challenges and promote sustainable innovation. Futury supports talents and startups throughout the entire life cycle: from idea development to scaling. Futury offers a unique ecosystem that quickly translates start-up ideas and research results into practice. Behind Futury are Hein-Main Universities (Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, TU Darmstadt) and the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Transfer centers such as HIGHEST, Unibator, Startup Center Mainz and Frankfurt School Entrepreneurship Centre are firmly involved in efficiently supporting reorganizations. Through a strong network of industrial partners, scientific institutions and investors, Futury accelerates innovation processes and provides quick access to knowledge, capital and pilot projects. As a gravity center for innovation, Futury connects science, business and founders and creates solutions for a competitive future.
