Bielefeld instead of Berlin: How East Westphalia-Lippe wants to become a hip start-up location

I don't want to go to Berlin, says a Kraftklub song. And recently also in parts of the start-up scene, which is looking for its home in regions like Ostwestfalen-Lippe.

Jürgen Hase has seen a lot of the world. The communications engineer first moved to Qatar, then to the 32-million metropolis of Mumbai, and finally he founded his own company builder, P-ton, in Bielefeld.

From the metropolis to the countryside: What sounds like a big step backward at first is supposed to be the entrepreneur's next big thing. If Hase has his way, Bielefeld, with its population of just over 330,000, will become a "beacon project when it comes to regional startup hubs in Germany," as the Hanover native himself puts it. But not everyone in NRW is as euphoric as he is.

If it's up to the people of East Westphalia-Lippe, things should be clear: Bielefeld is at least as cool as Berlin. At least for companies, the conditions are good. The region in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the five strongest economic areas in the state - not least because of various medium-sized companies. In addition, regional business development programs attract companies.

This is also attracting more and more start-ups to the region: their number in Ostwestfalen-Lippe is growing by 34 percent annually, according to an evaluation by the Founders Foundation. And with that, a network of founders is growing in the region, including entrepreneur Jürgen Hase - from Bielefeld, he promotes and finances startups "that shape digitization socially." A digitized restaurant experience, hybrid social games, a blockchain ticketing platform - these are just three of P-ton's projects.

Hase takes a critical look at classic startup hubs like Berlin or Munich. "The motto there is often: higher, faster, further. Sometimes far from reality," he says. "There, unfortunately, it's more often about preparing the exit right from the start and taking the fast money." In East Westphalia-Lippe, on the other hand, the mentality is different - here, it's all about building up companies in a sustainable way. "The region is positively down-to-earth. There's not a lot of talk, but also simply doing things," says Hase.

If the region succeeds in creating a symbiosis of startups and the numerous successful medium-sized companies, but also large corporations, it could well become an attractive location. The capital and entrepreneurial know-how are there: Miele, Oetker, Bertelsmann are just three of the big names alongside all the hidden champions from the SME sector.

According to Hase, this is a valuable treasure from which founders can draw. "In a city like Bielefeld, I have much faster contact with potential business partners or experts," he says. In cities like Berlin, he says, it's often different: "There, it's first through the front office lady and I get an appointment in six weeks, if I'm lucky." So it's hardly surprising that 83 percent of startups in Ostwestfalen-Lippe work in the business-to-business segment - a nationwide record.

The region has no shortage of creative minds; more and more startups are being founded out of the many strong universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, in Bielefeld directly, but the universities in Cologne, Münster and Aachen are also not far away. "It is important to connect with this startup potential at the universities and promote it," says Hase.

Timo Marks, state spokesman for North Rhine-Westphalia from the Bundesverband Deutsche-Start-ups (BVDS), strikes less euphoric tones when it comes to the opportunity of regional startup hubs. In his opinion, big cities retain a few advantages compared to more rural regions: "Let's stay with Berlin: the city is incredibly international, there are highly qualified people from all over the world," he says. "Plus, there are startup events there all the time, like rooftop parties hosted by venture capitalists or other organizations, where founders can network."

Qualified personnel and access to capital providers: these are precisely the biggest concerns of founders in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region. Nearly two-thirds of regional startups stated in the Start-up Monitor that they are dissatisfied with access to qualified professionals and capital. In Berlin, by contrast, only one-third of founders share these concerns.

Proximity to the SME sector is also not necessarily only advantageous, according to Marks, who has founded two start-ups himself. "The bigger the companies you deal with get, the more time there is with them," Marks says. "And for startups, there's a golden rule: time always plays against you." So the danger for founders, he says, is investing time in a potential business partnership that ends up being wasted. "Really successful startups are replacing existing businesses. That's not necessarily the mindset of the typical small and medium-sized business," Marks said. In addition, strong medium-sized companies and large corporations further exacerbate the skilled labor problem for startups, he said, because they, too, are always on the lookout for qualified personnel.

Nevertheless, Timo Marks looks forward to the region of East Westphalia-Lippe, where he himself once worked for Bertelsmann. The state lives from its many small and medium-sized enterprises, "and I think it would be great if the two cultures of startups and small and medium-sized enterprises could continue to come together," says the BVDS state spokesman for NRW. Perhaps the lighthouse project in Bielefeld will succeed and show how it can work regionally.