CUBE, a global ecosystem dedicated to connecting startups and corporations, opened its new collaboration space in Berlin. The space is the official point of connection between CUBE's curated startups and its partners. CUBE aims to facilitate even greater connections between industry leaders and innovative B2B startups by placing teams side by side.
By promoting, creating, and fostering partnerships between industry players and startups, the first match as a part of the CUBE initiative were Volkswagen and NavVis. This was a good base to start a CUBE pilot project and a valuable experience for both.
Executive Chairman of CUBE, Dr. Torsten Oelke, was excited to open the doors of the collaboration space, serving as the home for Industry 4.0 projects, together with Brigitte Zypries, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. "The opening of the CUBE cooperation space here in Berlin is a transformative moment for us," said Torsten Oelke, CEO of CUBE. "The do-it-yourself mentality is over. With CUBE's help and intervention, startups can now be paired with the right connectors they need to push their growth quickly and efficiently, in the right direction."
Startups and corporations are cultural opposites; they don't speak the same language. CUBE maintains various projects and modules to connect innovative startups and leading corporations. CUBE also acts as an interpreter between the two, understanding the needs of both startups and corporations and facilitating deals and digitalization faster than any other innovation scouting platform.
Global Founder Partner Bayer drives digital innovation in the life science fields of healthcare and agriculture. "CUBE offers Bayer exciting opportunities to connect with international and industry relevant startups. That's how we join forces with bright minds outside of Bayer to turn digital health solutions into reality and to accelerate innovation in agriculture," said Daniel Hartert, CIO of Bayer. By taking an active role in the global CUBE ecosystem Bayer fosters its open innovation activities around the world.
Dirk Hoffmann, CFO Messe Berlin GmbH, discussed the active role of Messe Berlin as a co-initiator of CUBE and organizer of the CUBE Tech Fair: "As an organizer of this highlight event from 10th to 12th May 2017, we are delighted to connect and network with up to 400 B2B startups and around 2,000 participants to experience Industry 4.0 and make it tangible. For us this is also a further step in the development of new event formats."
Bruce Weinelt, Head of Digital Transformation at the World Economic Forum, spoke about digitalization of industries and their role in accelerating it during the fireside chat. And finally eight startups from the CUBE ecosystem completed the opening by presenting their innovations and ideas: Labfolder, StoreDot, PackID, Konux, SafeRide, PEAT and Tridom.
Focused on making an impact on global industry and not just business opportunities, CUBE concentrates on three major world changing areas:
- Life sciences, including digital health and agritech
- Machinery and manufacturing
- Infrastructure and interconnectivity
In this sense, CUBE acts as a matchmaker between B2B startups and industry leaders that can benefit from the changes in operations and processes the young companies can provide.
About CUBE
CUBE (www.cube-global.com) is a global ecosystem dedicated to bridging the gap between top B2B startups and major Industry leaders. With a deep understanding of startups and corporations and their vastly different cultures, CUBE connects these unlikely partners through a network of touchpoints worldwide, and acts as the most efficient B2B matchmaking service available. Through a year-round program CUBE also offers Industry and startups a space to collaborate via its Cooperation Space in the heart of Berlin. Highlight event of the year is the CUBE Tech Fair in May 2017, an exclusive by invitation-only event, that brings global visibility to the most important industries in startup innovations by promoting projects between leading industry players and startups. CUBE was founded in June 2016 with Dr. Torsten Oelke as executive chairman and global founding partners Bayer, VW, Messe Berlin and World Economic Forum.