The city of Mönchengladbach wants to support the existing startup ecosystem in the field of textile technology and medium-sized companies from the textile and clothing industry to find each other and work together on new solutions.
Financed by the city of Mönchengladbach, driven by Mayor Felix Heinrichs and the city’s economic development agency (WFMG) and implemented by the service provider 1stMover, the aim is not only to intensify the cooperation between medium-sized textile companies and startups, but also to provide proof that Mönchengladbach is the ideal location for a Europe-wide startup hub for textile technology. “Our claim must be: If you want to make a difference and develop something in the textile industry, you have to come to Mönchengladbach and you can’t miss the city. We have to think big,” says mayor Heinrichs. “More than 300 startups from all over Europe represent the potential that we can tap into and connect with medium-sized businesses through targeted matchmaking.”
A feasibility study had already confirmed in 2022 that the location would be ideal. However, due to a lack of funding access, the project has not yet been fully implemented. Mönchengladbach wants to identify new solutions for medium-sized businesses and at the same time offer founders from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and all of Europe a “launch pad” for their ideas.
A “TexTech Startup Challenge” is planned, which will start before Christmas and culminate in a large final event in spring 2025.
The management of numerous companies from the local textile, clothing and textile machinery industries were contacted. You can register for the “Challenge” until January 15, 2025. After a needs inquiry as to which specific challenges or innovation solutions should be worked on, the team will be brought together with the providers of possible solutions from the Europe-wide startup cosmos for textile technology. The startups, in turn, have the prospect of pilot customers, an opportunity to better understand the needs of companies in the sales market, as well as improved end customer market access through partnerships with established companies.