Top Investments in 2023 in Baden-Württemberg

Strong ecosystems with more than a third of Germany's world market leaders, a powerful and stable economy and a highly innovative environment were reasons enough for more than 6500 foreign companies to expand into Baden-Württemberg. In 2023, THE LÄND has again proven itself to be a hotspot for future-oriented investments. Thus, Baden-Württemberg attracted two companies in the key future technologies of artificial intelligence and green tech to the location: Amazon and Lhyfe. Furthermore, considerable investments by Roche and Takeda in the existing sites in Mannheim and Singen underline THE LÄND’s status as Germany’s leading healthcare industry location.

Amazon opens new research and development center in Tübingen

The US technology company Amazon has been active in artificial intelligence research in Tübingen since 2018, initially with an interim office but with a continuously growing team of researchers. In March 2023, the company opened a newly built research and development center in the immediate vicinity of its partners in Cyber Valley. “When one of the world's largest digital companies commits to our state, invests in research here and maintains diverse relationships within the region, then that is a compliment to the location. And a boost for our FDI strategy,” said Minister President Winfried Kretschmann at the inauguration ceremony in March. “In ideal proximity to the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, the Universities of Tübingen and Stuttgart, world-class industrial partners and a promising start up scene, the newly built research and development center is not only a commitment to the location, but also a booster for exchange in Cyber Valley.” Amazon runs a team of 70 scientists in Tübingen researching artificial intelligence and machine learning. One example is virtual fitting via smartphone. The new research and development center offers a panoramic view over Tübingen and the surrounding countryside, as well as more space and modern workplaces for the technology group's highly qualified employees. They work closely with local research institutions such as the Universities of Stuttgart and Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. Since 2017, Amazon has been part of the Cyber Valley, Europe's largest research consortium in artificial intelligence, and cooperates with the Max Planck Society in the so-called “Science Hub” to advance research in the field of AI.

Lhyfe starts construction of the largest commercial green hydrogen production plant in Germany

In October 2023, ground was broken for Lhyfe's hydrogen production plant in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Baden-Württemberg. Founded in 2017, the French company Lhyfe is dedicated to the energy transition and focuses on the production and supply of green and renewable hydrogen. The new plant in Schwäbisch Gmünd will be Lhyfe’s 1st large production plant outside of France and represents a milestone in the market ramp-up of green hydrogen in Germany. It will be powered by renewable electricity secured from hydro, wind and solar power purchase agreements and should be commissioned in the second half of 2024. The project, which is funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the EU, among others, thus supports a sustainable neighbourhood solution for the local industry. “The project demonstrates the economic viability of hydrogen solutions in the transport and industry sectors and also supports the state of Baden-Württemberg in its efforts to become a model region for the development of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. We very much welcome the fact that the state and the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd want to implement their ambitious goals for a hydrogen economy based on renewable energies and that we are taking this step together. With the construction of the production plant, we are making an important contribution to the goals of the federal government,” said Luc Graré, Head of Central & Eastern Europe at Lhyfe. The company operates in 11 European countries and has more than 150 employees.

Three investment projects take Roche in Mannheim to the next level

In 2023, the Swiss pharmaceutical enterprise Roche celebrated three new openings at the Mannheim site: the launch site for mass spectrometry, a new office and training building for global customer service and an expansion of the diagnostics production. The Roche Group has invested more than 160 million euros in total in the three projects. “The location scores with its variety of functions, the highly qualified workforce with many years of experience and very good conditions for interdisciplinary collaboration,” says Claudia Fleischer, Managing Director at Roche Diagnostics GmbH about the Roche site in Mannheim. The launch center for mass spectrometry will serve to establish production for a completely new product segment for the Diagnostics division expected to be available on the German market from 2025. In total, around 65 million euros have been invested in the preparation, filling and packaging facilities as well as a new building. The second investment project involves a modern, highly automated production line for the expansion of the diagnostics production. The third investment project concerns a modern new office and training building for around 180 employees of the Global Customer Training Center. With the new buildings, Roche is responding to the growing demands of the healthcare market and positioning itself for the future.

Takeda opens new production facility for the active agent of its dengue vaccine in Singen

In July 2023, the globally operating Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda strengthened its presence in Baden-Württemberg with the inauguration of a new building at its Singen site to produce the active agent in the dengue fever vaccine. “We are establishing our global hub for the dengue vaccine here in Baden-Württemberg," said Dr. Dirk Oebels, head of the production site in Singen with its approximately 1,100 employees and member of Takeda GmbH’s executive board. “In doing so, we are taking responsibility for global health and strengthening the business location at the same time.” The company has invested over 300 million euros in recent years to prepare the Singen site for the production of its dengue vaccine. With the opening of the new building, the conditions are now in place for all production steps on site. In future, Takeda's dengue vaccine will be manufactured, filled, packaged and globally shipped entirely in Singen. The production and delivery capacities of the Singen site have been significantly expanded with the launch of the new building. The high degree of digitalization with a completely paperless process for planning, sampling, incubation, analysis, verification and approval of data also adds to this. “Our dengue vaccine makes the site future-proof. We are expanding and transforming it,” stated Dr. Dirk Oebels. “The production of a complex vaccine creates highly qualified jobs. We are thus offering further development opportunities for our own employees, while becoming an even more attractive employer and attracting new specialists.“