© Catharina Frank

The partnership focuses on three key areas: joint accelerator programmes and support services for cybersecurity start-ups, the systematic development of a pipeline of promising start-up teams, and the strengthening of the Rhine-Main region as a hub for innovation. Both partners intend to work more closely together in future to identify and support relevant teams, and to expand early-stage access for cybersecurity start-ups to industry partners, mentoring and investment funding. There are also plans for expert forums and networking events on current cybersecurity topics.

To this end, the partners are drawing on their respective areas of expertise: ATHENE, the National Research Centre for Applied Cyber­security, contributes both cutting-edge research in cybersecurity and the national hub for cybersecurity start-ups, the ATHENE Digital Hub Cyber­security. The ATHENE Digital Hub has been supporting young cybersecurity teams since 2017 through incubation and accelerator programmes. The hub is the central hub of Germany’s largest ecosystem of IT security start-ups and connects over 200 start-ups with industry, SMEs and investors. Investments have been made in start-ups through the incubator programme supported by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. Internationally, the hub promotes German cyber security innovations and is closely networked with successful inter­national cyber security ecosystems such as those in the USA, Israel and France. The hub also organises the most important award for cyber security start-ups from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the ATHENE Startup Award UP@it-sa.

Futury complements this with, in particular, its industry expertise, but also with access to over 100 corporate partners, 100,000 students and 12,000 researchers from four leading universities, as well as over 2,000 start-ups and industry-driven innovation programmes such as THE MISSION Cyber Security. As part of this programme, Futury has been bringing together industry partners such as Siemens Energy, Thales Deutschland, SHS-Stahl-Holding-Saar, the Montan Stiftung Saar and the Dussmann Group with selected start-ups since 2024. The aim is to identify specific challenges faced by the industry partners and, together with start-ups, translate these into potential solutions and pilot projects.

“With Futury, we are joining forces with a partner that has excellent connections to industry and the start-up scene. Together, we are building new bridges between research, the start-up ecosystem and industry. In the field of cyber security in particular, this close collaboration is crucial for bringing innovations to market more quickly and strengthening Europe’s digital sovereignty,” says Prof. Dr Michael Waidner, Director of ATHENE and Head of Fraunhofer SIT.

“Our vision is to make Germany a leading hub for research-based start-ups. Collaborating with ATHENE, Europe’s largest research centre for cyber security, is an important step towards this,” explains Charlie Müller, founder and managing director of Futury.

The partnership will initially begin under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Further joint projects and programmes are set to be finalised in the coming months.

About Futury

Futury is Europe’s leading industry-driven start-up ecosystem, based in Frankfurt am Main. Working closely with universities, companies, investors and policymakers, Futury promotes entrepreneurial thinking, sustainable start-ups and the structured transfer of scientific excellence to the market. The aim is to establish a dynamic and professionally networked innovation ecosystem. Futury is supported by a strong alliance of 33 partners from companies and foundations, as well as four universities – the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and TU Darmstadt. As one of 10 start-up factories nationwide, Futury will receive funding of up to 10 million euros from the federal budget. Futury is thus at the forefront of a new start-up dynamic in Germany, with the aim of sustainably strengthening Germany’s position as a leading location for knowledge-based start-ups, with the Rhine-Main region as its hub.

About ATHENE

ATHENE is Germany’s national research centre for applied cyber security. Founded in 2019 by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture (HMWK), ATHENE is a research centre of the Fraunhofer Society comprising the SIT and IGD institutes, in collaboration with Darmstadt Technical University, Goethe University Frankfurt and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Today, ATHENE is Europe’s largest and leading research centre for cyber security and conducts mission-oriented cutting-edge research with measurable impacts on politics, the economy and society.