Reasons to stay

The infrastructure must be adapted and optimized for all residents of the district. The settlement of small and medium-sized companies is a central issue, especially in Golm, because space and laboratories are in demand and quickly sold out.

Steffen Schramm, Managing Director of Potsdam’s Technology and Start-up Centers, operates real estate for founders from different industries at a total of five locations. The GO:IN Golm Innovation Center has been located in the Potsdam Science Park since 2007. Its equipment has some special features: On four floors there are laboratories, offices, corridors and kitchens, which can be flexibly combined to form functional units. The company is thus specifically geared to the rapidly changing needs of young companies in research and development. Due to the state subsidy, the rents are particularly cheap.

“At GO:IN in Golm, we can offer an office rent of just under 150 euros per month due to the funding structure. The costs for biophysical laboratories up to security level S2 are of course higher due to the ancillary costs and the equipment,” says Schramm. “However, founders can only rent the space for a limited period of eight years, after which other start-ups must then be able to benefit from the advantages of the funding.” He sees an urgent need for new space not only because he can create further prospects for companies. “There are many companies, even from outside, that request laboratory space in Golm. However, the available space is currently not sufficient at all.”

The demand is already high

The city of Potsdam and Potsdam’s technology and start-up centers have now taken the initiative and are financing a new building that is not subject to these regulations and time limits. Space can then be rented out for an unlimited period of time. Right next to GO:IN 1, Steffen Schramm is now building GO:IN 2 as another technology and start-up center, with small-scale office and laboratory space. This will initially be interesting for the companies that successfully establish themselves in GO:IN 1 after the start-up phase, grow out of the start-up status and are then able to set up in the new laboratories with their own resources. As expected, there is already a lot of interest in the GO:IN 2. “We are experiencing here and at other locations that demand increases with the growth of the location. It may therefore well be that there is already a certain lack of space again for the opening of the new areas,” Schramm emphasizes. The significant investment of the City of Potsdam in the He sees the city of Potsdam in the Science Park as a clear positioning for the science location and as a positive starting signal to other investors.

To ensure industry-specific support and to ensure the professional proximity of the companies in the Science Park, the team of Potsdam’s Technology and Start-up Centers places start-ups that specialize in media or IT, for example, in Babelsberg or to the other start-up centers on a subject-specific basis. However, founders tend to know very well why they want to settle in Golm at the first contact, Schramm explains. The entrepreneurial decision is usually made in advance. The decisive factors are above all the good infrastructure, the on-site support by the site management and the availability of skilled workers. Last but not least, important research institutes in the industry and the University of Potsdam are within walking distance.

more articles in the PNN special supplement on the Potsdam Science Park from 21.09.2019

Text: Isabel Fannrich | Abbildung: BBF Baubüro Freiberg GmbH