Cities of Innovation: Hanover

Additional information

Local, national and international transport links

Hanover’s international airport is in the top 10 busiest in Germany, with many non-stop flights including Dubai.

 

Trains take 1.5 hours to Berlin and Hamburg from Hanover’s Hbf train station.

 

Hanover port is directly connected to the Port of Hamburg. Major motorway, or autobahn roads cross north-south (A7) and east- west (A2); it takes two hours to drive to Berlin, Hamburg or Rhineland.

 

City railway of 127km; subway 19km; public buses cover 510km in the region.

 

Hanover is a growing city of 530,000; affordable housing is available and is less expensive than in other big cities such as Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich. More than 40% of the city is green with the biggest European city forest Eilenriede, which covers 640ha.

 

Infrastructure is well-built with a good network of cycle lanes, ongoing building of electric vehicle charging stations, and several car- sharing options. Hanover is the first city where Volkswagen’s MOIA shuttle on-demand, electric car- sharing service is operational.

University links and access to talent

— 47,000 students
— 18.2% of the workforce are university graduates

— Collaboration between research and SMEs; postgraduates and students usually develop innovation together with SMEs and often begin their career in these companies.

Costs and availability of workspace

City support for start-ups and SMEs

SMEs are supported by the city of Hanover with financing, links to existing networks, advice for startups and mentoring on growing and establishing companies. The city has its own department of economic development as part of public services. Also, the state of Lower Saxony’s main funding bank is in Hanover.

Financial support and access to investors & accelerators

— €30M public funds for startups

— Several accelerators including:

Venture Villa and Hafven Smart City Hub