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NRW.INVEST in exchange with international startups

As part of the "START.UP! Germany Tour" and the RuhrSummit, NRW.INVEST welcomed startups from all over the world to inform them about business prospects in NRW. 

The "START.UP! GERMANY  Tour" organized by the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad gave 46 startups from Brazil, France, Kenya, Russia, South Korea and ten other countries the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the German startup scene. A roadshow brought the companies via Berlin and Hamburg to the Ruhr Metropolis. NRW.INVEST held a workshop in Dortmund on "The Digital Economy in North Rhine-Westphalia: New business opportunities for international startups and companies" for startups from all over the world and informed them about opportunities in the German and North Rhine-Westphalian markets. Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, Minister of Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, met with members of the international startup delegation and exchanged views with them on developments in their countries' respective startup landscapes.

Another highlight of the tour was the opportunity for selected participants to pitch their business models from the fields of energy, mobility/logistics and Industry 4.0 at the RuhrSummit, the largest startup conference in the Ruhr area, on the following day. This year, the RuhrSummit presented the "International Summit", the first international offshoot of the RuhrSummit's program, in which startup regions from all over the world engaged in an exchange with one another. Speakers included Lior Sethon from the Israeli startup Mobileye, which successfully conquered the German and European markets with its branch office in Düsseldorf, as well as the founder and venture capitalist Fabian Heilemann. As a partner of the "International Summit", NRW.INVEST was represented with its own lounge. A coworking space was set up here for the international startups and a consulting service provided. The topics covered ranged from questions on tax and legal form specifications to real estate and HR consulting.