This month, German Accelerator marked its tenth anniversary with a celebratory event in Berlin. We looked back at the successes of the past 10 years and also looked forward into the next decade of global innovation.
We were joined by long-time partners, mentors, investors, alumni, and representatives from some of the largest startup hubs across the world, including Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and North and South America. It was great to see so many friends of the program in attendance!
Catch all the highlights from the past decade of German Accelerator in the video below or watch it here:
Announcing the New AI Competence Center
At the celebration, Oliver Krischer – Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) – announced the opening of the new AI Competence Center in Berlin.
“One of the decisive factors for the success of AI startups is the responsible use of the technical possibilities of artificial intelligence,” Krischner said.
The AI Competence Center in Berlin will be a building block of German Accelerator into the next decade. The global program serves to strengthen artificial intelligence in Germany and supports German AI startups across all phases of growth – including internationalization.
After the opening remarks, Dr. Sabine Hepperle from the BMWK conducted a symbolic handoff of the AI Competence Center to Prof. Matthias Notz, Managing Director of German Accelerator.
Prof. Notz is looking forward to new opportunities of how German Accelerator can work with startups in the field of AI.
“For more than 10 years, we have been offering startups from Germany access to global innovation ecosystems consisting of experienced mentors, partners, companies, investors, and universities,” he said. “Particularly in the AI sector, international exchange is enormously important. We will actively promote this with the new AI Competence Center and thus foster innovation.”
Later on, Marc Filerman moderated an on-stage panel about artificial intelligence with AI expert Hedi Razavi, Claus Karthe from German Entrepreneurship Asia, Tom Plümmer from the drone manufacturer Wingcopter, and Christian Schläger from the AI-based app protection provider Build38.
A Look Back at the Past 10 Years of German Accelerator
Over the past decade, German Accelerator has empowered high-growth German startups in their international expansion. It is operated by German Entrepreneurship GmbH and funded by the BMWK. The German Accelerator mentor network includes over 500 startup mentors from every geography, background, and area of expertise.
Since its launch in 2012, German Accelerator has supported over 500 startups that hail from every region of Germany. These startups come from a wide range of industries and across all phases of growth.
Our journey of helping German startups expand internationally began with opening our first overseas office in Silicon Valley. We then soon expanded to other U.S. cities with offices in New York City and Boston. Since 2018, German Accelerator has been supporting startups explore the diversity of Asian markets through the innovation hub of Singapore. German Accelerator now offers programs in 11 different markets across the world, and we’re always looking out for promising new regions to offer to our startup accelerator participants.
Collectively, startups that have participated in German Accelerator programs have raised a total of over US$12 billion in investment funding and 42 have achieved successful exits through acquisition. Five of our startups have now reached valuations of over US$1 billion (i.e., unicorns), and collectively they employ around 6,000 people today.
What the Next Decade Holds for German Accelerator
The event concluded with German Accelerator Co-Founder Dietmar Harhoff giving a speech about the future horizons of German Accelerator over the next ten years. Other experts also gave talks about the future of their respective global startup markets, including:
- Mabel Fu – South Korea
- Matthias Möbius – Africa
- Sumedha Chouthe – India
- Maurice Lee – South America
- Keshia Theobald-van Gent – United States
Before and after the stage program, guests had the opportunity to network with experts from German Accelerator as well as with successful startup founders and other program alumni.
We’re proud to have served the German startup ecosystem and entrepreneurial community over the past ten years, and we’re excited to see what the next decade holds.
Become part of the success story – check out all of the startup accelerator programs offered by German Accelerator and get started on your journey of international expansion. → Apply today!