The Startup Factory Family

Our Startup Factory customer family covers the broad spectrum of high-class European SMEs. The industry focus is currently on automotive suppliers, mechanical and equipment engineering, measurement technology, electronics, automation and medical technology.

At present, around 45 mainly German companies are entering the Chinese, Indian or US markets under the Startup Factory umbrella. We have put around 10 companies on their own feet after setting them up.

The concept of shared resources and minimized overhead costs allows our clients to become profitable quickly – some companies have achieved this in their first full year of business! The average time taken from start-up to break even is just over two years.

With 50 years of experience, ARKU is the market and technology leader in straightening technology.

ARKU offers the world's largest selection of high-performance and precision leveling machines for parts and coils and, more recently, deburring machines.

When it became clear to us that we would expand our service for our customers in China, the search for suitable infrastructure began. This turned out to be more difficult than expected. It was not easy for companies of our size to find suitable buildings. We also wanted to focus all our energy on our customers - and not on administration, bureaucracy or building management. The Startup Factory, which was set up at the time, enabled us to do just that and delivered the necessary buildings at the same time. Today, our customers at the Kunshan site benefit from our advice on the machine. Numerous customers also come to deburr or straighten their sheet metal parts on our machines on a contract basis.

We see another major advantage in the exchange between the companies. Bernd Reitmeier has hit the nerve of SMEs with his Startup Factory!

Andreas Hellriegel, Leiter Geschäftsfeldentwicklung ARKU Maschinenbau GmbH

centrotherm international AG, Blaubeuren, is a machine and plant manufacturer for the photovoltaic industry with 600 employees worldwide.

In 2018, centrotherm international AG decided to open a production facility in China in order to be competitive on the Chinese market in the long term. Startup Factory was the best partner for us. In many discussions with Startup Factory, we were able to get a detailed picture of the procurement market in China and the production conditions.

The establishment of production at the Startup Factory went exactly to plan with the founding of the company and the development of the relationship network. The administration was handled by the Startup Factory team. Everything went very smoothly, allowing us to concentrate on our business. Within 6 months, we successfully established a production and assembly company in Kunshan.

Gunter Fauth, COO until 2021, now Valegra

The Sturm-Gruppe, founded in 1993, is an industrial company that manufactures machines and systems worldwide in the fields of surface technology, vision technologies, cleaning, conveyor and automation technology.

When we first considered setting up in China in 2009, we did not have the resources to set up a separate organization of the right size in a short time. Nor did we have sufficient knowledge of administrative and legal issues in China, from establishing a company to running the day-to-day business.

Startup Factory was a solid partner that offered us all the necessary technical and business support. A setup (assembly shop and offices) and a solid network of suppliers was established very quickly, providing the basis for our business in China. In the localization of a range of materials handling products material handling systems we benefited from Startup Factory's knowledge and extensive network. We completed our first order in China in 2010 and made a profit in the first year. We were able to meet the high quality and delivery requirements of our mainly German OEMs in the automotive and airport business right from the start.

We had a very good feeling from day one and can look back on many years of cooperation based on enormous trust. That may be one reason why we did not press ahead particularly quickly with an “exit” and setting up entirely on our own. One big advantage is that until recently the key positions were filled by Startup Factory personnel so we did not need resources from headquarters for our day-to-day business.

Agreement on important issues was always uncomplicated and my personal presence in China was reduced to a few visits a year. It really can be said that the sustainable success of Sturm Machinery in Kunshan would not have been possible without the colleagues from Startup Factory. I would particularly like to thank the two Bernds for their tremendous support over many years.

I wish you continued success!

Thomas Gilch, formerly Managing Director of Sturm Airport & Parcel GmbH, now Managing Director Sturm Blechverarbeitung & Systeme GmbH

Kunshan Veritas Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. is an automotive supplier and was established as a subsidiary of Veritas AG, founded in Berlin in 1849.

The Chinese subsidiary Kunshan Veritas Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. was founded in 2011. Even though Veritas does not belong to the typical Startup Factory target group (SMEs), we nevertheless drew on the support of the Startup Factory for the foundation and launch in China. The aim was to keep costs as low as possible during the start-up phase. After all, all overhead functions have to be set up without any significant turnover. This is where the Startup Factory comes into play: it offers these functions as a service, including a workshop with temporary workers, so that there is no need to rent or build a hall. And it's tailor-made: Everything exactly to the extent and for the period of time it is needed with the greatest possible flexibility. After a year, Veritas China had outgrown the incubator and moved into its own halls with its own team and many new products. Today, after 6 years, Kunshan Veritas Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. is an established automotive supplier in China with rapid growth. This would not have been possible in this form without the Startup Factory. There is no faster, better, cheaper and more flexible way to set up a company in China.

We were happy to write these lines for the Startup Factory and will remain on friendly terms with it in the future!