Start-up Campus OWL celebrates its opening on Berliner Ring
Plenty of space for fresh visions: The Start-up Campus OWL, the new home of Paderborn University's start-up centre, garage33, was officially opened on Thursday. The modern property on the former barracks site on the Berliner Ring offers the start-up scene in East Westphalia-Lippe a new home on around 7,000 m². In addition to workspaces for the garage33 team and start-ups, the three floors also include event spaces, a fully equipped media studio and a 1,000 m² "maker space". The construction project, subsidised by the state with around 23 million euros, aims to sustainably strengthen the start-up culture in Paderborn and beyond. Numerous guests from science, business and politics took part in the celebrations.
Prof. Dr. Birgitt Riegraf, President of the University, emphasised the appeal of the site: "With the new Start-up Campus OWL, we have created an ideal environment for young founders that will sustainably strengthen East Westphalia-Lippe as a location for innovation. The cooperation between cutting-edge research and business sets widely visible standards." Deputy Mayor Martin Pantke takes a similar view: "The Start-Up Campus OWL is giving decisive impetus to Paderborn's future quarter and is helping to create a city quarter of tomorrow on Driburger Strasse. This clearly shows that the close cooperation between the city and Paderborn University is working extremely well."
Closely interwoven with the Excellence Start-up Centre Ostwestfalen-Lippe (ESC.OWL), those responsible have created a place for those interested in founding a company, start-ups, cooperation partners and anyone interested in the topics of innovation and business start-ups. "Innovative spin-offs from science make a significant contribution to economic and employment growth in the region and beyond. With ESC.OWL and the Start-up Campus OWL, a forward-looking start-up ecosystem is being created in Paderborn," says a delighted Prof Dr Rüdiger Kabst, Scientific Director of garage33. The ESC.OWL is operated under the consortium leadership of Paderborn University together with Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences. In 2019, it was selected by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy NRW as one of a total of six Excellence Start-up Centres in NRW.
The "Maker Space" is a very special feature. Under the supervision of specialised staff, founders can use equipment for rapid prototyping, such as 3D printing, in metal, wood, welding or textile workshops. This allows prototypes to be developed and tested independently. The workshop landscape is unique in the region and beyond. Prof. Dr. Sebastian Vogt, Managing Director of garage33, states: "In order to realise visionary and forward-looking projects, you need space and support. I am delighted that we can support courageous founders with our expertise and outstanding infrastructure in a constantly growing start-up ecosystem."
Daniel Mäuser, Managing Director of the agn Group, who were responsible as general planners, explains: "The new building marks the start of the further development of the Barker site. The striking staircase in the entrance hall symbolises aspiration and the transition of successful start-ups from the start-up biotope to the free economy. As a wall-less lecture theatre, the staircase offers space for pitches, lectures and meetings."
The general contractor was LIST Bau Bielefeld. Stephan Langer, Managing Partner, emphasises: "For us, the Start-up Campus OWL is a true flagship project. We are delighted to have created a new, innovative infrastructure with this building and thus promote networking between students and economic players."
The construction project was financed by grants from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia using funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2014 - 2020 "Investments in Growth and Employment". The costs totalled around 36 million euros.
