Startups play an important role in digitizing the German economy. There are numerous examples of successful cooperation between established companies and startups. The corporates don't always need to be investors either. Most corporates have initiated independent labs and accelerator programs in recent years.

Carolina Alex from BMW Startup Garage prefers the Venture Client Model, in which startups enter into an almost classic customer relationship with BMW. Microsoft BizSpark's offer, presented by Stephane Jacquemot, ranges from free access to the entire portfolio of MS technologies to comprehensive technical support. An important aspect of Miriam Mertens' work as head of Start-up Partnerships at Deutsche Telekom is connecting start-ups with German SMEs.