Few areas of life have changed so fundamentally as the field of mobility. With its start-up Incubator, the Gläserne Manufaktur has established a development program for start-ups in the field of mobility services in order to give them the chance to play a role in shaping the mobility transformation with their ideas
Cebit 2017 served as the launch-pad for a unique start-up incubator program at the Gläserne Manufaktur. Working in collaboration with the business development authority of the Saxon capital city of Dresden, the program aims to foster start-ups in the fields of fleet management, car sharing, concierge services, charging infrastructure and navigation and parking services, not to mention smart home services. The “Volkswagen Future Mobility Incubator,” as it is officially called, is open to founders from around the world. Its goal is to enable the start-ups to develop their ideas to market maturity directly in the Gläserne Manufaktur.
The production facility for the e-Golf in Dresden was specifically modified to accommodate the program. “Our unique selling point is primarily that we enable a direct line of communication to the technical specialists, Volkswagen experts and the vehicles themselves. We will open up relevant software interfaces to our electric models, for example, enabling the start-ups to develop and test their ideas directly in or with a car,” said Kai Siedlatzek, Managing Director for Finance & Controlling at Volkswagen Saxony. “What’s important to the jury is always a clear focus on the customer. Through the new solutions developed in the Incubator, users should be able to move about more comfortably, safely and more cost-effectively,” says Marco Weiss, Director of New Mobility & Innovation at the Gläserne Manufaktur.
As part of the program, the Gläserne Manufaktur also provides mentors and coaches (for instance from the SpinLab – HHL Accelerator Program of the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management); an attractive work environment in the Gläserne Manufaktur; an IT infrastructure; contact with researchers, developers and decision-makers at Volkswagen; project management support; proximity to the start-up scene; and – most important – financial and staffing support through our partner, the state capital of Dresden. “Our philosophy: The start-up team concentrates on the idea and their own core competence. We handle the rest,” says Siedlatzek.
The project is supported by the Ideation:Hub of Volkswagen IT – further information regarding the objectives and the Gläserne Manufaktur can be found on their Website.
