It is certainly all about the money in Frankfurt am Main and Darmstadt. That is why they combine their strengths within the financial sector with expertise from the field of cybersecurity. The aim is to further expand infrastructures in the fintech and IT security sectors and raise awareness of the subject among companies across different industries.
The Digital Hubs in the Frankfurt am Main and Darmstadt region work on solutions and new infrastructures for the financial market and in the area of cybersecurity. Both locations boast an internationally renowned university network and count established partners from the fintech, insurtech, legaltech and regtech sectors as well as companies with a focus on IT and software as part of their community.
The Digital Hub Frankfurt connects players from the financial sector with the start-up scene. The community in the TechQuartier, the heart of the Hub, consists of more than 500 start-ups, 50 academic and entrepreneurial innovators and hundreds of potential business founders. As a cross-industry innovation platform, the TechQuartier brings start-ups, scale-ups, investors, companies and young talent together to advance technologies and digital solutions.The Hub's programmes include mentoring and educational components, pitch events and workshops. The aim of the latter is to break down entrenched patterns of thought and develop a new digital understanding – for technology trends such as artificial intelligence, blockchain or sustainable finance, for example. This creates a suitable environment for research and development.
Faces behind the Hub
Dr. Peter Neu
Hub Manager
Dr. Sebastian Schaefer
Hub Manager
Alise Munson
Head of Marketing & Communications
Dirk Noack
Head of Finance & Operations
Dominik Zborek
Senior Manager Public Sector & Government Affairs
Hugo Paquin
Head of Community
Lucas Schmitt
Head of Innovation Products
Sarah Gronwald
Community - Ecosystem Manager
address
TechQuartier
Platz der Einheit 2
60327 Frankfurt am Main
JoS QUANTUM
Commissioned by the Deutsche Börse Group, the start-up JoS QUANTUM GmbH has developed a quantum algorithm aimed at tackling existing challenges associated with the calculation of business risk models. JoS QUANTUM is a TechQuartier member and the Deutsche Börse Group is one of the TechQuartier's institutional partners.
Lampix
Lampix, a start-up and TechQuartier member, uses machine learning and an augmented reality module to transform various kinds of interfaces into intelligent, interactive interfaces. The solution is currently being implemented in restaurants and allows customers to order food and drink directly on the interface located at their table. The start-up is financed by the investment platform from 8pitch, which is also a TechQuartier member.
Bundesbank Innovation Challenge
Innovative risk monitoring is the aim of the Bundesbank Innovation Challenge, which brings together start-ups and banking experts. The Innovation Challenge promotes the development of new kinds of solutions for use in the real world. The Bundesbank is using this programme to pursue the aim of bolstering its risk monitoring capacity with the aid of big data and artificial intelligence.
Growth Alliance AgTech & FoodTech
Together with Rentenbank, Germany's development agency for agribusiness and rural areas, TechQuartier is holding a three-day boot camp for start-ups. New ideas in the fields of agtech and foodtech are developed here every year. Participants delve into subjects such as growth strategies, team building, data protection regulations, negotiation techniques, pitching and storytelling in workshops and one-to-one meetings with experts. The highlight of the event is the Demo Day, when the start-ups present their ideas to a live audience.
The Digital Hub Darmstadt is a project of the National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity ATHENE. ATHENE is a centre of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in cooperation with the two institutes Fraunhofer SIT and Fraunhofer IGD, the TU Darmstadt and the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt Germany's leading innovation community for cybersecurity start-ups has formed around ATHENE. The Hub particularly supports the transfer from research through various spin-off formats. In addition to targeted programmes, there is a focus on networking between companies, research, investors, founders and other stakeholders, as well as the visibility of the national cybersecurity ecosystem.
address
Fraunhofer-Institut für Sichere Informationstechnologie SIT
Rheinstraße 75
64295 Darmstadt
IT-Seal
IT-Seal is a Darmstadt-based start-up for security awareness training founded in 2016. The human factor often plays a decisive role in cyber attacks. IT-Seal's solution aims to train employees based on key figures and in line with their needs, thus creating a sustainable security culture. The basis for making a security culture measurable in a standardised way emerged from research at the SECUSO chair (TU Darmstadt).
LocateRisk
LocateRisk is a specialist for non-invasive IT security analyses and monitoring based in Darmstadt. Founded in 2020, the company offers a cybersecurity intelligence platform with which organisations can automatically assess and prove the security of their IT landscape and that of third-party companies. LocateRisk is supported by the StartUpSecure I ATHENE start-up incubator and the StartUpSecure funding programme. In addition, there is a close exchange with experts from Fraunhofer SIT and TU Darmstadt.
StartUpSecure ATHENE Booster
The Booster is an accelerator developed as part of the StartUpSecure ATHENE activities. StartUpSecure ATHENE is a BMBF-funded programme that promotes the creation of cybersecurity start-ups, especially from the research community. Booster was tailored by the ATHENE StartUpSecure team to the requirements of cybersecurity start-ups.
German-Israeli Partnership Accelerator
The German-Israeli Partnership Accelerator organised by Fraunhofer SIT offers master's students and computer science graduates the opportunity to develop new IT security solutions and build entrepreneurial skills in mixed German-Israeli teams based on real challenges. Each run is supported by large companies that also co-develop the challenges.