By laying the foundation stone of the DESY Innovation Factory in the Altona Innovation Park today, DESY is setting an important milestone on the way to Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld. Hamburg's Second Mayor and Senator for Science Katharina Fegebank, Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economics and Innovation, and other guests of honor attended the event.

From 2027, the building will offer a first-class infrastructure for laboratory and office space on a good 3,000 square meters for start-ups and young companies from the fields of photonics, sensor technology, electronics and quantum computing. The location in the Altona Innovation Park, with its immediate proximity to the tecHHub and industrial companies based there, creates optimal conditions for interaction and collaboration with other industrial companies while maintaining close ties to science.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the first DESY Innovation Factory building on the DESY campus took place in November 2024. With its twin structure, the DESY Innovation Factory establishes a close link between research and industry. It will support companies on their journey from brainstorming to market readiness, offering ideal conditions for innovation and growth.

“The DESY Innovation Factory is a pacemaker for innovation in Hamburg. The location in the Altona Innovation Park creates a bridge to close the gap between fundamental and applied science and offers young companies excellent conditions for growth. I am delighted that we are laying today the foundation stone for an important new location for Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld and Hamburg as an international science metropolis. This will make our research future-proof,’ says Katharina Fegebank, Hamburg's Second Mayor and Senator for Science.

Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economics and Innovation, emphasizes: “We need close cooperation between industry and science so that innovations will have a tangible effect. The DESY Innovation Factory offers exactly that. It will develop Hamburg into a hotspot for future technologies and strengthen Germany as an important location for innovation in the world.”

The DESY Innovation Factory aims to create an innovation ecosystem that is unique in Germany and links research and industry. The aim is to promote deep-tech innovations that are particularly promising for the future of our society.

“With the second location of the DESY Innovation Factory in the Altona Innovation Park, we are substantially increasing the impact of the DESY innovation ecosystem. We will then have all the tools we need to generate international attention. Germany and Hamburg need the innovative power that will radiate from the DESY Innovation Factory,” explains Arik Willner, Chief Technology Officer at DESY.

“The Altona Innovation Park is part of our vision to turn Hamburg into an internationally attractive hub for innovation that brings established companies together with ambitious start-ups. Following the successful launch of TecHHub Hamburg, we are now delighted to celebrate the next milestone in our success story with the laying of the foundation stone for the neighbouring DESY Innovation Factory,” says Rolf Strittmatter, Managing Director of Hamburg Invest.

In a festive ceremony, a time capsule containing current documents, a daily newspaper, letters, and other symbolic objects was embedded in the foundation stone. This tradition connects the past with the future and marks the beginning of a new chapter for research and innovation.

The event was flanked by a supporting program which, in addition to the official ceremony, also offered networking opportunities in the tecHHub and an activity with the students of the neighboring Fridtjof Nansen School. The DESY student laboratory presented an exciting vacuum experiment, and the DESY Makerspace team demonstrated various 3D printing options on site. The 30 or so particularly interested pupils were thereby offered a unique, hands-on experience that brought science and technology to life.

The DESY Innovation Factory is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.