Latest / EU-Startups Podcast / What Europe Can Learn from Asia

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What Europe Can Learn from Asia · EU-Startups Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 0: You are now listening to the EU Startups
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Podcast.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to this special episode of The EU Startup's podcast!
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: We're here at A-Five X Conference in Singapore by Mitation, National University of Singapore.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Throughout these next few days we'll be chatting about innovation funding, and the developing bridge between Southeast Asia and Europe.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Not to mention The Singapore Defense Tech Hackathon whose winner is going show up at our very end of this series in a special episode.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: So I hope you're looking forward to hear us talking about the challenges?
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: the innovation And how we are all comparing when it comes to localized markets such as Asia, Southeast Asia & Europe Even global challenges not to mention lessons that can be learned from each other.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Okay Helmut, thank you very much for joining me.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: It's a pleasure to have you here on the You Starts podcast.
• 1:01
  Speaker 0: Cool to be here!
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Yes I'm thinking before we get started... ...you just give us quick rundown as to who are what should do and why your'e here?
• 1:09
  Speaker 0: Great so i am Helmut one of the founders of Unternehmertum which is one of leading entrepreneurship centers in Europe.
• 1:18
  Speaker 0: it's based in Munich and their academic home is the TUM the Technical University of Munich And it became really big, so we call a fully integrated startup factory.
• 1:30
  Speaker 0: So we have about seventeen thousand students with us per year.
• 1:35
  Speaker 0: Seventeen thousand students per year!
• 1:37
  Speaker 0: We run about one-thousand four hundred projects per year and start every week about free growth.
• 1:46
  Speaker 0: companies attract week about forty million euros of venture capital and so this sums up to over two billion euros per year.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Yes, actually this isn't the first time I've heard of Internetum although i never had to say it out
• 2:01
  Speaker 0: loud.
• 2:02
  Speaker 0: So thank
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: you!
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: This is a verse for me on that sense.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: so we have seen at YouStars who's heard and kind-of money goes around this project.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: but point where want begin with conversation.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: just what do see as general challenges in scaling university projects into functioning companies?
• 2:26
  Speaker 0: So... really to build a scale-up you need years, okay?
• 2:32
  Speaker 0: A journey of five or ten years.
• 2:34
  Speaker 0: And on this journey we have multiple challenges.
• 2:38
  Speaker 0: so first it's about finding the team and finding the right problem space with the solution building the prototypes then incorporating the company.
• 2:54
  Speaker 0: Basically, we're still at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey.
• 3:00
  Speaker 0: The special thing about Unternehmertum is that they really cover their whole journey.
• 3:05
  Speaker 0: so you have not only all the education programs and incubators but once a company has found it there are accelerator programs with lots of infrastructure to build deep tech companies And we also have a large venture capital fund called UBC Partners.
• 3:22
  Speaker 0: So, we also invest about one hundred million per year.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Okay so just to kind of deepen on that is what would you say.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: it's the main challenge because were here in Singapore right?
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: That makes me wonder how do see with challenges between German startups and the way they scale, continent-wide across Europe versus how you see Asian start ups in how they scale.
• 3:52
  Speaker 0: Okay so same Europe is a big continent.
• 3:55
  Speaker 0: Asia's also big continents.
• 3:58
  Speaker 0: I would really differentiate from ecosystems here in Singapore.
• 4:03
  Speaker 0: Sure.
• 4:04
  Speaker 0: Singapore has very rich and elaborated ecosystem with A lot of great universities, a lot of money and very strategic thinking government for example.
• 4:18
  Speaker 0: And in Munich you have this industrial base which is enormous also on the global scale really strong with large companies like BMW and Siemens all these Mittelstands companies.
• 4:33
  Speaker 0: so I think Every ecosystem has its strengths.
• 4:37
  Speaker 0: And then the question is as an entrepreneur, okay?
• 4:41
  Speaker 0: Where do I need a base to really bring the company to next phase?
• 4:48
  Speaker 0: and The question isn't not only Singapore or only Munich Or only Barcelona but if you're willing to build global companies today You have leverage many ecosystems.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Okay When I speak to founders and entrepreneurs, one of the main things that they point out is the idea regulation.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: And some of them feel Europe as a whole puts it difficult for founders in terms of scaling when not only content-wide or country wide but even just from university to market right?
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Do you think this kind of difficulty comes with Europe?
• 5:30
  Speaker 0: I would say this is, it's a difficulty in Europe but everywhere.
• 5:35
  Speaker 0: So look at ESA Aerospace for example that satellite launching company okay?
• 5:43
  Speaker 0: At the beginning you need test sites and so these are heavy infrastructure large infrastructure very noisy.
• 5:53
  Speaker 0: you probably can't do this in a place where there are lot of people.
• 5:57
  Speaker 0: So, that meant for ESA to go to Sweden because... Europe, okay?
• 6:03
  Speaker 0: And in Sweden they have huge areas where you can have these test sites.
• 6:09
  Speaker 0: or then if you want to launch such a rocket.
• 6:12
  Speaker 0: You can't launch it out of the country.
• 6:17
  Speaker 0: there's lot of population.
• 6:18
  Speaker 0: so ended up with Norway their first launching site.
• 6:22
  Speaker 0: and this is what I mean by building global companies Meaning this company has attraction in many countries.
• 6:30
  Speaker 0: With ESA, it's mainly European for example.
• 6:33
  Speaker 0: but if you look at other companies from our ecosystem like Ceylonus For example they started in Munich and then turned out the biggest marketers in DS.
• 6:42
  Speaker 0: now They have also a large presence In New York City And that is how we build global companies.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: And then where's the value in that, connecting Kira with Singapore?
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: Because today I was announced the partnership of NUS and your organization.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: So what is the value there in what you are seeing in Singapore which can bring over to Europe?
• 7:03
  Speaker 0: There are multiple values so far as Singapore has one leading innovation ecosystems in the world especially great talents.
• 7:15
  Speaker 0: We are sitting here right now at NUS, which is one of the top ten universities in the world.
• 7:20
  Speaker 0: Great talent.
• 7:21
  Speaker 0: and if you want to build great companies with great people then you need a lot of capital And Singapore's most wealthiest capital pools in the World.
• 7:34
  Speaker 0: Last but not least we also have customers In this case either Singapore or as a bridge to other large Asian nations, Singapore's great destination.
• 7:46
  Speaker 0: And vice versa.
• 7:47
  Speaker 0: for our Singaporean friends they not only want to serve Asian markets but global markets and then Europe is on the map?
• 7:59
  Speaker 0: Then the question is okay where do you have landing pad for that?
• 8:04
  Speaker 0: Where can we build up like your subsidiary?
• 8:08
  Speaker 0: and then Munich is a good choice.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: And so, you know bridge goes both ways right?
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: So what can Europe bring into Singapore and kind of tying in to that idea?
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: how do global talent supply chains, you know.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Is there interest in bringing Singaporean talent into Europe and vice versa?
• 8:28
  Speaker 0: Exactly this is already done at scale.
• 8:31
  Speaker 0: so for example we do not start the later stages really starting early phases.
• 8:37
  Speaker 0: so NUS and TUM has a large exchange program for entrepreneurial students.
• 8:45
  Speaker 0: Dozens of students per year are here from TUM in Singapore and vice versa.
• 8:51
  Speaker 0: And the US is sending a great talent to Munich, get to know the Munich ecosystem... ...to build relations out of this group of students.
• 9:05
  Speaker 0: Great companies evolve!
• 9:08
  Speaker 0: So it's really long-term thinking.
• 9:09
  Speaker 0: It is not like, okay we need now an opportunity and how can you do this?
• 9:14
  Speaker 0: Now its building a long term ecosystem with hundreds of people.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: How to feel about the balance then between promoting international exchange ideas also promoting local talent and that local talent rising up, staying within their country giving back to the economy.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Is there a balance?
• 9:38
  Speaker 0: Absolutely!
• 9:40
  Speaker 0: So I think the joint vision is to create value at scale.
• 9:48
  Speaker 0: for that it's a global game.
• 9:51
  Speaker 0: For our university TUM this means also we have huge international student base.
• 9:57
  Speaker 0: So over forty percent of our students are non-Germans.
• 10:01
  Speaker 0: Okay, and if you look then at the spin offs off tomb You see this talent base.
• 10:08
  Speaker 0: so these companies other than built by people from Singapore From Turkey or from the US?
• 10:15
  Speaker 0: If Canada you name it okay, so these these people They have a global thinking and they start to, global companies.
• 10:25
  Speaker 0: And it can turn out that this started from Munich but if its the global company will be has many touch points in all regions which matter.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: What do you feel then is main challenge with the kind of university system right now?
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Well, move the industry along more.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: We've already spoken on regulation.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: so that's one topic.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: but are there other elements you feel could improve moving forward?
• 10:58
  Speaker 0: So it is about speed and we have to speed up.
• 11:04
  Speaker 0: TUM for example is a state-owned university.
• 11:10
  Speaker 0: Preach entrepreneurship and be entrepreneurial, we have to be entrepreneurial ourselves.
• 11:15
  Speaker 0: So the Entrepreneurship Center also with The Venture Fund UEC partners and Unternehmertum as the entrepreneurship center.
• 11:23
  Speaker 0: these are actually private organizations And the entrepreneurship centers a non-for profit limited company.
• 11:33
  Speaker 0: so We're not restricted any state government governance and so on.
• 11:41
  Speaker 0: So we can act as entrepreneurs, this is the reason why we are in a growth path.
• 11:48
  Speaker 0: for over twenty five years now We grow about twenty-five percent per year which means like every three years we double our operation And then every ten years with ten x operations.
• 12:01
  Speaker 0: So we really also have to be entrepreneurial ourselves and then sure, We can bring this momentum.
• 12:08
  Speaker 0: Also two our startups.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: And how are you promoting kind of young entrepreneurs?
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: To get involved in academics and the university system?
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: because if I think Of that classical understanding of entrepreneur You know it's a guy in flip-flops who maybe didn't go to college Maybe even dropped out of College right.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: so i have to believe That there is probably an element too many entrepreneurs Who must ask why do I need The University System to begin with?
• 12:31
  Speaker 0: So the USP is pretty easy, it's a perfect playground because you are part of this talent base and also reputation.
• 12:43
  Speaker 0: You're apart from an outstanding university so doors can be opened and you use all your knowledge in infrastructure.
• 12:56
  Speaker 0: for example our universities have huge test sites, huge prototyping workshops everything.
• 13:04
  Speaker 0: As a solo entrepreneur you have to first spend like half a million by all these machines.
• 13:11
  Speaker 0: in our case You go up into the registration desk of our maker space Get your batch and then twenty minutes later sitting at the machine.
• 13:24
  Speaker 0: Okay unfair advantages you have as a two-man startup.
• 13:33
  Speaker 0: This is why there are so many people coming to us from all over the world because it's for them, very good deal.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Well that's clearly working but I think to wrap up here and just with my final question...I'm curious too know cause?
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: you've just announced your partnership right?
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: So its fresh!
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: It's exciting.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: where do want see go five, ten years from now.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: What does a successful evolution of the partnership look like with NUS?
• 13:58
  Speaker 0: So if we build joint global teams... so if we built joint Singaporean European success stories in global companies and which have strong home footprint here in Singapore ...and Germany can leverage two strengths both ecosystems And I'm totally sure that this will happen.
• 14:25
  Speaker 0: We did it before with Stanford now for over twenty years, and its amazing!
• 14:33
  Speaker 0: It's the global community of like-minded people who want to change the world in a positive way... ...want to create value….
• 14:40
  Speaker 0: …and everybody is happy to be part such as a global community.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much Helmut.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: It was a pleasure to have you.