The RIZ gets underway

On Friday 9 October, Lord Mayor Dr Andreas Zippel, District Administrator Florian Wiedemann, Florian Luderschmid, President of the Upper Franconia Administrative Region, and University President Prof. Dr Stefan Leible laid the foundation stone, marking the official launch of the Bayreuth Region’s Joint Start-up and Innovation Centre (RIZ). A hub for entrepreneurial spirit and innovation is being established on the University of Bayreuth campus – backed by the City and District of Bayreuth and with generous support from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. In its early years, the RIZ will receive substantial financial support from the Upper Franconia Foundation.

“With the RIZ, we are creating – together with the Bayreuth district – a place where entrepreneurial ideas and innovations can be turned into jobs. The RIZ combines our university’s academic strength with the entrepreneurial spirit of our region. In doing so, we are not only investing in a building, but in the future viability of the Bayreuth region and Upper Franconia,” emphasised Bayreuth’s Lord Mayor, Dr Andreas Zippel, adding: “The RIZ will thus create a place where knowledge can be turned into added value – and where good ideas can become the innovations of tomorrow.”

District Administrator Florian Wiedemann said: “With the Regional Start-up and Innovation Centre, we are creating a place where the future is shaped. The RIZ will have an impact far beyond the city limits and provide the entire Bayreuth region with fresh impetus for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development. Here, networks are formed, ideas become business models, and research findings turn into marketable products. I am convinced that, in doing so, we are sustainably strengthening the competitiveness of our economic region and creating opportunities for the people in our home region.”

University President Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Stefan Leible emphasised: “The RIZ on the Bayreuth campus embodies a new understanding of collaboration: not just working side by side, but working together. Together with the building housing the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a space is emerging on campus that brings the city, the district and the university together, both physically and in terms of content. In this way, we are creating the conditions to put ideas into practice more quickly and directly, and to strengthen our region’s innovative capacity in the long term.”