The Ruhr region - a hot spot for start-ups

Innovative young companies rather than mines and furnaces: The Ruhr region is attracting many start-ups. The old industrial buildings are being turned into modern offices, and many co-working spaces have been created. More than 20 universities ensure that there are plenty of well-qualified young professionals. A strong SME sector and numerous large companies create all kinds of opportunities for collaboration. Cybersecurity for example is an important start-up cluster in the Ruhr region and a large growth market. According to the “Innovationsreport Ruhr”, a study conducted by the RAG-Stiftung and the German Startups Association, healthcare and innovations in industrial technologies and logistics could also become the hallmarks of this region in the west of Germany. Three examples:

Protection against cyberattacks 

Flu viruses, coronaviruses and other pathogens are constantly evolving. That’s why people can keep catching the same disease. It’s much the same with cyber viruses – they are also constantly changing their form and thus pose a threat to the security of IT systems. A successful attack on a computer centre’s firmware can have serious consequences for companies, institutions, municipalities or indeed entire nations that can necessitate the equivalent of a stay in a hospital’s intensive care unit. Philipp Deppenwiese and Kai Michaelis want to prevent IT systems suffering such a bad attack. At their Bochum-based start-up “immune”, they develop secure solutions to protect data centres against attacks and malware. This allows security technologies that have been difficult to use in the past - so-called hardware security anchors - to be deployed effectively and easily. Germany’s federal research ministry supported the “immune” start-up with its “StartUpSecure” funding programme. 

Innovation for green hydrogen  

It is seen as the key element in achieving climate neutrality: Green hydrogen could be an important alternative to fossil energy sources in the future. So-called “stacks” are at the heart of the water electrolysis process. These are stacks of cells, connected in series, that split water into hydrogen and oxygen. At present, such stacks are normally sold as part of entire electrolysis systems. Wiebke Lüke and her colleagues hope to change this. Their Dortmund-based start-up WEW – short for Water Electronic Works – is developing and producing what they describe as a “radical new development”: alkaline electrolysis stacks. They say that the stacks are adaptable, flexible and cheaper than conventional stacks. And could thus make it possible for very large numbers of people to access the coveted resource that is green hydrogen. “This is guaranteed by minimising raw materials, avoiding costly resources, and using a completely new stack design that enables its efficient, highly automated production,” explains Lüke. Together with its research partners, WEW was awarded 16 million euros in public project funding. 

Real-time monitoring of plasma 

Be it in the glasses we wear or the smartphones we use: Plasma is to be found in many everyday products. Its advantage is that it treats materials very effectively and is used for example to clean or coat materials. Plasma technology is a complex process. The three-member founding team at “House of Plasma” has developed various versions of the “multipole resonance probe” measurement technology with which it is possible to monitor industrial production processes involving plasma in real time, for example in order to be able to reproducibly coat surfaces. Bochum, where the start-up is based, is an ideal place to start a new business, believes CEO Moritz Oberberg. “Bochum, and indeed the Ruhr region with its people and higher education landscape, is a very good location for start-ups. The fact that we have been so successful with the House of Plasma is a very clear indication that the region can undertake the structural transformation. We will remain in Bochum, partly so as to be close to Ruhr University Bochum (RUB). After all, the RUB is a globally leading location in the area of plasma research - and that’s how our story started, too. With research. We also want to profit from our education later as an employer,” says Oberberg.  

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