Hanse Innovation Campus Lübeck

What Hanse Innovation Campus Lübeck does

Hanse Innovation Campus Lübeck (HIC Lübeck) is a German innovation-hub coordination entity organized as a private limited company under the joint stewardship of the University of Lübeck (Universität zu Lübeck) and the Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck (Technische Hochschule Lübeck). The HIC GmbH acts as the central contact point linking businesses with academic researchers and institutions located on the campus, delivering three core services: Forschungskooperation (research cooperation), Gründungsberatung (startup consulting), and Vernetzung (networking). Its served customer base spans three segments — companies seeking research partners, researchers from member institutions seeking industry collaboration, and founders/entrepreneurs — all within the Hansebelt region of northern Germany.

HIC Lübeck does not sell a unified software product; instead it brokers access to four designated research competency areas: Health Technology "BioMedTec" (biomedical engineering and medical technology), Künstliche Intelligenz (Artificial Intelligence), Intelligente Stadt (Smart City), and Ernährung (Nutrition). These capabilities are delivered through a multi-institutional network of campus partners including the University of Lübeck, TH Lübeck, the University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein (Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, UKSH), the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Institute for Medical Technology (IMTE), MEVIS, the Lübeck Technology Center (Technologiezentrum Lübeck, TZL), Oncampus, the Medical Laboratory Lübeck (Medizinisches Labor Lübeck, MLL), and the University Technology Campus (UTK). Engagement channels include flagship events such as the Innovationswerkstatt production workshops, Präzisionsmedizin trifft Food Intelligence, AI Week (Woche der KI), and the Hanseatic Hackathon, supported by news content, email newsletters, and a LinkedIn presence.

The company's revenue model is anchored in professional services — specifically facilitating research cooperation, knowledge transfer, and ecosystem coordination between industry and academia. No publicly disclosed pricing, contracted deal sizes, or unit economics exist in the source material. Ownership remains entirely academic: HIC GmbH is jointly supported and governed by two public universities, with no venture capital, private equity, or external shareholders identified. The entity is registered in Germany, headquartered at the University of Lübeck campus, and explicitly scoped to the Hansebelt region rather than a national or global footprint.

Name

Hanse Innovation Campus Lübeck

Legal name

Hanse Innovation Campus GmbH

Website

https://hic-luebeck.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hanse Innovation Campus Lübeck is a GmbH jointly run by the University and TH Lübeck that facilitates research cooperation, startup consulting, and networking between companies and academic researchers in health technology, AI, smart city, and nutrition in Germany's Hansebelt region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Innovation and Research Cooperation Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Technical Universities with Strong Industry Partnerships (EDAHAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Technology Transfer & Innovation-Driven Research Universities (High Commercialization) (EDAHABAH), Technical Universities with Computing, Data & AI Focus (EDAHAEAK)

Keywords

• Research cooperation services
• Innovation campus services
• Startup consulting
• Biomedical technology research
• Knowledge transfer networking

Headquarters

HQ city

Lübeck

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Cooperation Services: Facilitating collaboration between companies and research institutions through the HIC GmbH entity, providing networking, project coordination, and knowledge transfer services

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Hanse Innovation Campus Lübeck operates an innovation hub that connects companies with academic researchers through research cooperation, startup consulting, and networking services. The HIC GmbH acts as the central contact point, facilitating joint innovation projects, knowledge transfer, and the formation of startups based on research from the University of Lübeck, TH Lübeck, UKSH, DFKI, and other partner institutions across four research domains: Health Technology BioMedTec, Artificial Intelligence, Smart City, and Nutrition.

Product overview

Hanse Innovation Campus Lübeck is an innovation consortium operated by HIC GmbH, jointly run by the University of Lübeck (Universität zu Lübeck) and TH Lübeck (Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck). Rather than a unified software product, the campus serves as a coordination and networking hub offering three core services: Forschungskooperation (research cooperation/partnering), Gründungsberatung (startup consulting), and Vernetzung (networking). These services connect companies with researchers across four designated research focus areas: Gesundheitstechnologie BioMedTec (Health Technology), Künstliche Intelligenz (Artificial Intelligence), Intelligente Stadt (Smart City), and Ernährung (Nutrition). The campus positions itself as a living community of specialists, visionaries, researchers, students, and founders who collectively transform knowledge into innovation and innovative startups for the Hansebelt region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BioMedTec: Health technology research competence area focused on biomedical technology innovations.
• Innovative Minds

Products and services

• Forschungskooperation (Research Cooperation) A collaboration service that connects companies with researchers and research institutions on the HIC Lübeck campus, enabling joint innovation projects, application-oriented research, and knowledge transfer between industry and academia. Intended for companies seeking academic research partnerships.
• Gründungsberatung (Startup Consulting) Advisory service supporting founders and entrepreneurs in developing innovative startups, providing guidance based on research findings, campus expertise, and connections to the broader innovation ecosystem. Intended for prospective and early-stage founders.
• Vernetzung (Networking) Networking service that facilitates connections among specialists, visionaries, researchers, students, and founders within the HIC Lübeck community, supporting exchange and collaboration. Intended for the broader campus community of researchers, students, and founders.
• Gesundheitstechnologie BioMedTec (Health Technology BioMedTec) Health technology research competency area spanning biomedical engineering and medical technology, with the ability to engage partners on joint projects through the HIC research cooperation service. Intended for companies and researchers in medical and healthcare technology.
• Künstliche Intelligenz (Artificial Intelligence) Artificial intelligence research competency area, one of four main research domains at HIC Lübeck, with dedicated community events including the AI Week Lübeck. Engages companies and researchers on joint AI initiatives.
• Intelligente Stadt (Smart City) Smart city research competency area covering intelligent urban solutions, one of four main research domains at HIC Lübeck. Engages companies and researchers on urban innovation initiatives.
• Ernährung (Nutrition) Nutrition research competency area, one of four main research domains at HIC Lübeck, also hosting events such as 'Präzisionsmedizin trifft Food Intelligence'. Engages companies and researchers on food science and nutrition technology.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Universität zu Lübeck (UzL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary founding institution of the HIC Lübeck innovation campus, providing core research expertise in medicine and technology
• Technische Hochschule Lübeck (THL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founding institution of the innovation campus, contributing applied research and technical expertise
• Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity hospital partner contributing clinical research expertise to health technology initiatives
• German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)coreTechnology or IntegrationLeading AI research institution contributing artificial intelligence expertise to campus research initiatives
• Institute for Medical Technology (IMTE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedical technology research institute supporting health technology cluster activities
• Technologiezentrum Lübeck (TZL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology center supporting startup formation and technology transfer activities
• Oncampus LübeckminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus-based training and education partner supporting innovation and entrepreneurship
• University Technology Campus (UTK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology campus partner contributing to the interdisciplinary research network

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hamburg Innovation: Regional innovation hub coordinating research-to-market transfer across Hamburg's universities and industry — directly comparable to HIC's coordination role in the Hansebelt region.
• RWTH Aachen Campus: Industry-partnered research campus combining RWTH Aachen with corporate partners across technology domains; the closest German analogue to HIC's industry-academia cooperation model.
• KIT Innovation GmbH: Innovation vehicle of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology providing research cooperation, startup support, and industry partnering — a direct functional peer to HIC GmbH.
• TUM (Technical University of Munich) Innovation Network: Technical university with an extensive industry partnership and startup-incubation network spanning AI, life sciences, and engineering; mirrors HIC's industry-academia cooperation structure at a larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Helmholtz Association: National research association encompassing 18 large-scale research centers; competes for public research funding and corporate partnerships across HIC's medical, AI, and nutrition domains.
• Fraunhofer Society: Germany's largest applied research organization operating 76 institutes across multiple technology domains; a broad incumbent providing overlapping industry-contract research services.
• Max Planck Society: Germany's premier basic-research organization running 86 Max Planck Institutes; its technology-transfer activities (Max Planck Innovation) overlap with HIC's research cooperation mandate at national scale.

Regional players

• Berlin Partner for Business and Technology: Berlin's regional innovation and economic-development agency performing comparable industry-academia brokering — but in a different, larger metropolitan geography.
• Innovationszentrum Niedersachsen: Lower Saxony's regional innovation support entity facilitating industry-research cooperation and startup formation; same role as HIC but in an adjacent German state.
• ETH Zürich Innovation Park: Innovation campus adjacent to ETH Zürich supporting research spinoffs and industry collaboration in AI, life sciences, and engineering; comparable model in a non-German market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hanse-innovation-campus-luebeck

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hanse Innovation Campus Lübeck