Leipzig: Expand Your Innovative Business to Germany’s City of the Future

Leipzig boasts an enviable supply of spacious, affordable, and architecturally appealing buildings – key drivers of liveability, culture, and innovation. The city actively supports the creative reuse of industrial buildings, brown and greenfield sites, creating spaces for culture and business innovation.

This makes Leipzig a magnet for new arrivals and the fastest-growing German city, with highly ranked economic potential. Attracting young and well-qualified people, and recruiting the right talent here is relatively easy.

Discover Germany’s Strongest Growing City

Testament to its growth strategy and exciting growth potential, Leipzig has been named a ‘City of the Future’ by fDi Intelligence in their rankings of the best investment destinations in Europe. Leipzig’s renaissance is based on a strategic combination of three sustainable growth factors:

Industry & Innovation
Culture & Creativity
Liveability, Affordability & Space to Build

Leipzig is also committed to sustainable, resilient, and functional urban development to provide healthy living environments. The City of Leipzig continues to invest in modern networks, public transport, and sustainable urban development. Thanks to the modern infrastructure, the individual districts are well connected.

Leipzig: Fast Facts

The population is expected to reach 700,000 by 2040
Leipzig is one of Germany’s youngest cities – the average age is 42
40,000+ students in higher education
28% of all employees have a university degree
26,000 new jobs were created in five years (2015-2020)
Home to 250 startups, Leipzig is one of the most dynamic startup ecosystems in East Germany
More than 500 tech companies have settled in Leipzig in the last ten years
Leipzig’s airport and its adjoining DHL hub are the fourth largest airfreight hub in Europe and the second-largest in Germany

Is Your Industry Ripe For Expansion In Leipzig?

As a business location, the Leipzig Region offers excellent opportunities for companies in growth industries. The region features established industry clusters for Mobility, Energy, Life Sciences, Information Technology (IT) and eCommerce, Logistics, as well as environmental technology and manufacturing. Explore the fastest growing industries in Leipzig:

Automotive & Mobility

Current disruptive challenges brought about by the transition from the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) age to electric vehicles are being addressed here in Autoland Saxony, where Leipzig-based companies are at the forefront of this revolution. 1 in 4 electric vehicles in Europe are currently produced in Saxony, Germany.

The Leipzig Region, with its strong automotive cluster, is the ideal starting point for this technological E-mobility transformation. What began in the early noughties with the branches of Porsche and BMW has since developed into a thriving location for the entire chain of automotive production:

Business: This shift to Electric Mobility has drawn significant battery production to the Leipzig Region and neighbouring areas, including Daimler subsidiary Accumotive, and planned developments by Dräxelmaier, who will produce batteries for Porsche, and plans by Farasis to manufacture batteries for Mercedes Benz’s “Electric-First” strategy.
Research: Institutions such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU) or the Leipzig Plastics Centre are available as regional research partners and sources of significant impetus for innovations in the automotive industry. Other notable research currently underway in Leipzig includes the Logistics Living Lab and the concept of Smart Last-Mile Logistics (SMile).
Networks & Communities: A regional network of producers, suppliers and research institutes provides valuable synergy and exciting opportunities for cooperation. Key players network through the ACOD Automotive Cluster East Germany, the AMZ Automotive Supplier Saxony, the Network Logistics Central Germany, and the Leipzig Foundry Network.

MedTech & Life Sciences

Applied cutting-edge research in medicine, as well as future-oriented innovations in healthcare, form the focus of life sciences businesses in Leipzig. The diverse life science industry in the Leipzig Region encompasses bioeconomy, life sciences, health economy, biotechnology, medical technology, pharmaceutical industry, and bioinformatics, as well as pharmaceutical and medical logistics.

From its inception in 2000, the Leipzig Region’s life sciences industry has been geared towards establishing Leipzig as a leader in applied medical research and marketable healthcare innovation:

Business: In the Healthcare and Biotech Cluster, 42 percent of the Leipzig-based companies and 68 percent of the research institutions are active in medical technology – a key technology in Germany. The face of the industry is shaped by small and medium-sized companies. For instance, the Accelerator for Smart Medical Devices and Therapies (Medical Forge) further helps international startups to develop market-ready product innovations for the European healthcare market, particularly in the areas of CE certification and reimbursement.
Research: With its Life Science Campus, the Leipzig Region offers companies from biotechnology, cell & gene therapy, medical technology, the pharmaceutical industry, and bioinformatics the ideal ecosystem to grow and flourish. The campus is home to the Medical and Veterinary Faculties of the University of Leipzig, the Centre for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, the biotechnological-biomedical incubator BIO CITY LEIPZIG, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI).
Networks & Communities: The biotechnology and medical technology association biosaxony is part of the extremely lively life science cluster of the Leipzig Region. Together with the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Leipzig Region is part of the Leading-Edge BioEconomy Cluster.
Key Event: Bio-Europe 2022 will be held in Leipzig in October 2022

Energy & Environmental Technology

As one of the regions designated by the state as a Smart Digital Initiatives Hub (de:Hub), the Leipzig Region’s focus on Energy and Smart City involves an accelerator program focusing on smart infrastructure.

Business and research also go hand in hand in the Leipzig Region – serving a broad spectrum of future technologies ranging from renewables to novel storage technologies and highly efficient plants to digital solutions.

In Leipzig, it is one of the most important and fastest-growing sectors of the economy – a place where sustainable companies can grow:

Business: Home to international companies such as the Gas Trading Group VNG or the European Power Exchange EEX. These organizations have long shaped the local energy sector attracting other companies such as Verbio BioFuel and Technology and Energy2market.
Research: Research institutions of international renown include the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, the German Biomass Research Centre DBFZ, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research iDiv, the Leibniz Institute for Surface Engineering IOM, and the three Fraunhofer Institutes CSP, IMWS and CBP.
Networks & Communities: Depending on the exact nature of your work, Leipzig offers several general and specific business networks. Examples include The Network Energy & Environment, Energy Saxony, the HYPOS Network, the BioEconomy Cluster, and the RWTec research and innovation network, to name a few.

The Easiest Way To Bring Your Business To Leipzig

Invest Region Leipzig is the economic development agency for the Leipzig Region in Germany. Formed by the City of Leipzig, the Leipzig Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the administrative district of Leipzig, its main goal is to help new and established businesses relocate or establish in the region.

What does Invest Region Leipzig do for you? Invest Region Leipzig’s expert consulting team provides you with advice based on your specific site and business needs to help you successfully set up and grow in the Leipzig Region.

Invest Region Leipzig’s free, confidential, and bespoke services include:

Providing the most relevant research and information for your business
Access to dedicated in-house specialists by sector including Energy, Automotive & Mobility as well as MedTech, amongst others
Location scouting services such as site visits and virtual tours
Guidance on registration of your company in Germany
Identifying & assisting you in obtaining grants and subsidies
Finding the right talent with recruitment specialists & university career services
Connecting you with industry associations and community networks
Aftercare – Invest Region Leipzig will work closely with local agencies to ensure your business is successful