NXTGN launches as Startup Factory for Baden-Württemberg

The Match Arena business matching event yesterday marked the official launch of NXTGN, the new Startup Factory for Baden-Württemberg. The program aims to systematically connect technology-oriented startups with established companies and investors, thereby creating a new quality of innovation promotion in the region.

A new impetus for the innovation ecosystem

Baden-Württemberg has been regarded as one of Europe's leading industrial locations for decades. However, innovation cycles are shortening, global markets are changing rapidly and new technologies demand more speed and cooperation.

While start-ups score with agility, technological expertise and fresh ideas, SMEs and industry contribute market understanding, scaling power and capital. According to Startup Monitor 2025 however, the number of collaborations between start-ups and established companies has recently fallen. Only 56% of start-ups currently work together with corporates (2024: 62%).

This is precisely where NXTGN comes in. The Startup Factory creates a structured framework for initiating partnerships in a targeted manner and transforming them into scalable business models.

Match Arena brings startups and SMEs together

The new Match Arena format marks the start of a series of initiatives with which NXTGN aims to accelerate innovation. Under the motto Matching People. Powering Collaboration., the event connects technology-oriented start-ups with SMEs that address specific innovation needs, from AI-supported production to sustainable manufacturing.

Our vision is an environment in which innovation is not created by chance, but in a targeted manner. With the right partners, entrepreneurial courage and regional roots, we want to give chance a helping hand.

Adrian Thoma, Managing Director of NXTGN Management GmbH

Applied deep tech for SMEs

The transfer of research into industrial application is at the heart of our activities. The focus is on topics such as artificial intelligence, robotics and sustainable production. NXTGN sees itself as a bridge between science, industry and the start-up ecosystem: research results are transferred into start-up projects and companies are actively involved in development processes.

The aim is to create long-term collaborations that generate real added value, both technologically and economically.

Ambitious goals by 2030

The Startup Factory is pursuing clear targets for the coming years:

• Establishment of over 300 deep-tech start-ups
• Initiate 1,000 collaborations between startups and established companies
• Mobilization of 1 billion euros in venture capital
• Creation of 10,000 jobs

NXTGN is thus positioning itself as a central innovation driver for Baden-Württemberg with the aim of developing the region into one of the leading European locations for applied deep-tech innovations.

The economy in the state

Baden-Württemberg is currently facing far-reaching economic changes. The automotive sector in particular, which has been the backbone of regional value creation for decades, is under massive pressure to transform. People in the state know what it means when things no longer run smoothly at Daimler, and the consequences extend far beyond the factory gates. The hidden champions along the Black Forest, once synonymous with German engineering and world market leadership in mechanical engineering, are also feeling the distortions of global markets and technological upheaval. Even the highly innovative regions around the Swabian Sea, which have traditionally set their own course somewhat apart from the state capital, are facing the challenge of providing new impetus in order to secure their competitiveness.

Against this backdrop, NXTGN will have to be measured by how quickly it succeeds in translating innovative start-up ideas into widely usable commercial applications. The know-how, the technological basis and the entrepreneurial spirit are undoubtedly available in the region. The task now is to activate them consistently! The Startbase wishes them every success.