Boredom? Negative.While things have quietened down a bit for us at thekraftwerk – cityacceleratorBremen in terms of our website in recent months, we’ve been working all the harder behind the scenes on our new structures and focus. Because a lot has happened.
Including at a staffing level: Heinrich Schröder, who, as general manager, had been a key influencer at the kraftwerk since its founding, has retired. Christoph Wiegmannwas recently appointed the new general manager. “We’re constantly looking for ways to increase our co-operations with startups”, he says, adding that “we want to cater individually to each startup”, thereby justifying our decision to change our support programme last year. Because we want to offer startups even more flexible, targeted and customised assistance as they make their business ideas a reality at the “Smart City”. Another innovation is the “Recruiting on demand” feature, which sees us systematically search for startups whose ideas offer potential solutions to challenges existing at our partner companies swb and EWE. “We want to work with the startup owners to determine the best form of co-operation”, says Christoph Wiegmann, who describes the accelerator’s new role as source of new ideas for the group, and simultaneously its innovation platform. This will be enhanced by a number of events run or hosted by us. Like the Encoway and Airbus hackathons last year. Or EWE’s PitchX, in which startups from all over Germany mingled with one another.
We’re also working on new formats – and this is where our colleagues Irina Jender und Laura Siegelcome into play. As event & community manager, Laura is primarily responsible for internal communications and events, while event & marketing manager Irina attends to external events, social media and press relations. Together withChristoph Wiegmann, they’re working on new campaigns, such as a“Smart Tech Trophy Light”,which ties in with the large pitch event held previously, but is much more intimate. Whether it be events promoting dialogue between managers and startups, intensive co-operation with the local startup scene, including Starthaus and bremen-startups.de, good networking or a perfect setting for inspiring co-working in the heart of the city, we at the kraftwerk have got everything covered!
