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Innovations and entrepreneurial spirit: Gotthardt visits Coburg's future projects
Bavarian State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt visits Coburg's start-up center as part of Zukunft.Coburg.Digital to promote regional innovations.
Innovations and entrepreneurial spirit: Gotthardt visits Coburg's future projects
Something is happening in Coburg! On June 18, 2025, Tobias Gotthardt, the Bavarian State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, visited the green start-up scene in the region. This visit was part of the Zukunft.Coburg.Digital (ZCD) initiative, which is concerned with promoting digital innovations. During his stay, he visited the Digitale Manufaktur in Rödental and the area of the former slaughterhouse in Coburg, where, among other things, the old cooling hall, the makerspace and the Center for Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CRAI) at Coburg University were on the agenda.
The digital start-up center has set itself the task of supporting regional companies in their digital transformation and helping founders and start-ups grow. Bavaria Innovative emphasizes that this will create a flourishing ecosystem for digital ideas and innovations that will make the economic area sustainable. This includes networking start-ups with local companies, which leads to a cultural change locally.
District Administrator Sebastian Straubel warmly welcomed Gotthardt to the Digital Manufactory. Florian Hanf, managing director of Zukunft.Coburg.Digital, impressively showed the rooms for start-ups and creative people. Philipp Steinberger, Managing Director of Future Systems, focused on the supportive atmosphere of the start-up center. Gotthardt didn't miss the opportunity to exchange ideas with Valentin Kummert and Andreas Kroack from Degaso and even test a new development of their cash register software. The enthusiasm was clearly noticeable!
Innovations in focus
Mayor Dominik Sauerteig led Gotthardt through the old cooling hall and emphasized the importance of this place of innovation. Here it becomes clear how much Coburg stands out from big cities. The focus here is on individual growth and adaptation to the specific needs of local companies. The initiative was launched by the city of Coburg, the Coburg district and the IHK and also receives support from the local economy and funding from the Free State of Bavaria.
The concept of Zukunft.Coburg.Digital includes various offers such as coworking workstations, offices, production boxes and workshop rooms. In addition, events are regularly held to promote exchange and networking, including information events, pitch events and hackathons. All of these measures aim to create a creative and supportive environment for innovation.
A look into the future
In addition to the on-site activities, a working group is concerned with the further development of the “Recognized Innovation Center” designation. This working group was set up by the BVIZ and has already had over 30 centers audited to ensure their quality. The aim is also to make suggestions to the state ministries in order to gain their support. Innovationszentrum.de provides more detailed information about the general conditions and the current status of the projects.
With all of these measures, Coburg impressively shows that the digital transition is not just a buzzword, but a living reality. The visible enthusiasm and good conversations during Gotthardt's visit are proof enough that this city has a creative potential that is just waiting to be developed.