"We want to become a European center of excellence".

If Oliver Hanisch has his way, something big is about to happen in Heilbronn. In an interview, he explains how Campus Founders wants to build a startup ecosystem there.

Oliver Hanisch is sitting at a large conference table, looking at the camera on the wall, and describes himself as someone who builds bridges. For almost 15 years, he did that in Silicon Valley, primarily for German startups. Since 2019, he has been back in Germany, in Heilbronn. There, he is helping to tinker with a campus for founders. The ambitions are great: It's a project that should change the entire region for good.

Mr. Hanisch, you spent almost 15 years in Silicon Valley, where you launched the successful German Accelerator, among other things. Why did you suddenly lose interest in the USA?

Oliver Hanisch: It's not true that I didn't feel like it. On the contrary, coming to Germany was actually no longer on my agenda.

And now you're sitting in Heilbronn, of all places. Why is that?

When German startups visit us in Silicon Valley, it's very inspiring for the founders. But keeping the fire going with them from a distance is very difficult. There were always opportunities to come back to Germany, for example to set up an accelerator. But I didn't want to do something that might only be funded by a federal state for two years and then slowly fizzle out again. Then I received an invitation from the Dieter Schwarz Foundation to come to Heilbronn. We want to establish an entrepreneurship and innovation center here. There is a vision here for the city. The entire region wants to develop proactively - and not out of necessity, but from a position of economic strength. The long-established companies here are working with foresight, which I found exciting.

So what exactly is the vision of Heilbronn that you want to be a part of?

Simply working with founders is not enough. There are many levels of work going on here, from the education side to the many hidden champions in the region. In addition, there are investors and business angels who get involved. Heilbronn is an industrial, production-oriented region with a lot of medium-sized businesses, mechanical engineering and automotive suppliers. However, many of these industries face an unclear future. Where will the suppliers go, for example, if we have many more e-cars in the future? In Heilbronn, everyone then asked themselves: What do we need so that the region continues to do so well? The resulting vision is to turn the industrial region into an education and research-oriented region. Investments are being made in educational facilities, in new universities, and there is also a programming school. The smart minds are to come from Heilbronn in the future.

And now, as head of Campus Founders, you're getting involved.

We want to help people with ideas who recognize solutions to problems in the market and who are doing exciting research to start up and accompany them on their entrepreneurial journey. The commercialization should stay local. Start-ups then become new medium-sized companies that shape the region.

Why does this require someone with Silicon Valley experience?

Perhaps to break down ways of thinking. Silicon Valley is more a mindset than a place. In Germany, many people still think in far too cerebral a way. People too often look for reasons why something can't work. I want to make sure that we take a much more pragmatic approach, that we are more opportunity-oriented - and think big! In Silicon Valley, everything is organized much less hierarchically. People meet more at eye level, regardless of where the other person comes from.

For a while, everything and everyone wanted to build a second Silicon Valley somewhere - today, many people wave something like this off.

I see it that way, too! We don't want to build a second Silicon Valley here, it's just a matter of adopting the advantages of their way of thinking. We are relying on the industrial strength of our region with the goal of also being interesting for European startups in the medium term. Compared to the U.S., the German start-up landscape also has its advantages: Employees are much more loyal and everyone acts in a more value-driven way.

In addition to the focus on B2B startups, the Campus Founders have initiated the Learntech Hub. What is it all about?

The Learntech Hub, which has now been launched, addresses topics where we have a huge strength. The goal is to unite Europe's most creative minds in a unique ecosystem around education and the work of the future. If you're a startup doing anything with edtech, we're the right place to be, if only because of our proximity to eleven educational and scientific institutions here. On the other hand, we are looking for start-ups that have offers on the future of education and the working world of tomorrow. Because that also interests the companies in Heilbronn more, they need more employees. We want to become a European center of excellence for these topics. 30 start-ups are already here for the launch. We are now supporting them directly with access to our business network, there are exclusive events, workshops and the opportunity to get in touch with well-known investors. By the end of the year, we want to have already established 100 start-ups in this field here.

Oliver Hanisch started a small project consulting company in Munich in 2005. He then moved to Silicon Valley to join the media company Red Herring. In 2010, he helped establish the German Accelerator there. After almost 15 years, he moved to Heilbronn to join Campus Founders.