Smart Industry 1/2017

micro-devices to monitor the status of
customer assets, such as infrastructure,
machinery, utility networks, buildings,
and transportation.
Cambridge was a natural choice for
Rix because 8power was built around
intellectual property licensed from
the university. Staying nearby makes
it easier to benefit from this ongoing
relationship between the university
and the company founders.
There are other advantages, says Rix:
“We’re able to call on an excellent infrastructure
of people and innovation.
Cambridge is an extraordinary place,
with someone who is an expert in
almost any tech field a short bicycle
ride away. If you need something
designed or made, or even want a
completely new technology invented,
the Cambridge area has some of the
best minds in the world.”
London and Berlin may have much
richer funding opportunities but both
lack this IT background. London has
gradually attracted experienced talent
and Berlin is still growing – but rapidly
catching up.
Daniel Richart is a founder of Teraki, a
Berlin-based company that specializes
in making IoT's big data manageable
by controlling the flow of information
from sensors and devices. He says that
the city’s rich mix of nationalities and
cultures makes it an exciting place to
live and work.
“Berlin doesn’t have a high number of
experienced personnel, due to the low
number of IT companies established
here. However, the availability of
attractive remuneration is a good help
in establishing a successful startup,” he
Best place to locate: The Cambridge
Science Park
Best place to hang out: Stir, Chesterton
Road
Best local attraction: Cambridge
University
What’s the weather like: Maritime
climate. Summers are warm, sometimes
humid, winters are cold.
Temperature range: 1°C to 23°C
maintains. “Specialized programmers
are rarely available here but they can
be recruited from different parts of
Europe easily because Berlin is such
an attractive place.”
Berlin is massively improving and
Richart is optimistic that the current
advances will be maintained. “The
German government has established
many initiatives in order to nurture
the startup ecosystem – ranging from
R&D schemes, such as Exist Start-up
Germany, to specialized funding
programs. Several agencies to help
startups get funding from the EU are
establishing themselves in Berlin as
well,” he says.
Like London, Berlin is already being
challenged. In the south of Germany
lies Munich, capital of the Bavarian
region. One thing most people know
about the city is the Oktoberfest beer
festival and the vibrancy of those
celebrations reverberates through a
growing IT startup culture.
Paul Günther chose Munich as the
place to develop his ProGlove product
and he encourages others to startup
there by saying: “For an industrial or
hardware startup, Munich offers the
perfect start with its accelerators, local
manufacturing, and talent. In summer,
we also have the choice of
spending the weekend at a lake, and
during winter you can be in a skiing
area in less than an hour. For shorter
breaks, just relax in the beer garden,
because Munich has more sunny days
and much better beer than any other
German city.”
His company has developed a glovemounted
barcode reader to make it
Best place to locate: Norrmalm District
Best place to hang out: Restaurant at
Nytorget 6
Best local attraction: The Stockholm
Archipelago
What’s the weather like: Humid
continental climate. Daylight varies
from over 18 hours in midsummer, to
only six hours in December.
Temperature range: -4°C to 23°C
Startup hubs
are springing
up all over
Europe from
north to south
easier to find specific barcoded items
in a warehouse or store than using a
handheld device. When a sought-for
barcode is read, the ProGlove signals
the operator visually and haptically
(by touch). The glove is also capable of
recognizing hand gestures to increase
its functionality.
France is a large country and startup
hubs are springing up from Marseille
in the south to Lille in the north. Paris
may be a beautiful, fashion-conscious
city but Lille has a powerful pull due
to the presence of the École Centrale
engineering college founded in 1854.
Youness Lemrabet studied there and
stayed on to found his own business
Everysens, a mobile asset tracking and
management platform for IoT.
“Lille is a vibrant city, rich in both
history and culture,” Lemrabet says.
“Strolling around the city, you will fall
in love with the architecture – a great
mix of Lille’s Flemish roots and its
industrial past – and you’ll stumble
upon fascinating museums and a few
lively bars.”
He thinks Lille is a great place for
startups: “It has great tech incubators.
According to the European Accelerator
Report 2015, one of them, which we
call EuraTechnologies, rates among
the 10 best European accelerators.
"Recruiting staff is easy thanks to the
many colleges around, and once your
team is complete, Lille is a fabulous
place to work," he maintains.
For funding and support, Lille has two
clusters, I-trans and Team², competing
for startups, there is also a group of
investors called R32E, and some business
angels have moved to Lille.
Cambridge Stockholm Amsterdam
Best place to locate: Grachtengordel West
Best place to hang out: Il Panorama, at
Herengracht 194 or the nearby Rockstart
Accelerator
Best local attraction: Canals and cafes
What’s the weather like: Oceanic
climate. Both winters and summers are
considered mild, although occasionally
quite cool.
Temperature range: 0°C to 22°C
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