One year of SPACE

One year of SPACE: nextMedia.Hamburg's innovation space in the Speicherstadt warehouse district is very well received and sets new standards

• SPACE innovation space celebrates its first birthday: Hamburg's location initiative nextMedia.Hamburg presents initial results at SPACE DAY
• Almost 7,000 visitors and strong partnerships in the first year: positive response and participation of currently 13 companies emphasises the strength of Hamburg's ecosystem
• Survey results confirm need: 76.6% of employees emphasise the importance of exchange, 53.5% are willing to leave their working environment for creative collaboration

Hamburg, 5 September 2024 - Hamburg's innovation space SPACE celebrates its first birthday and looks back on its first year with great satisfaction. SPACE is a project of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft and is operated by its nextMedia.Hamburg initiative. With over 600 square metres of space, the space in Hamburg's Speicherstadt warehouse district brings together companies, innovators, start-ups and self-employed people from the creative, media and digital industries. SPACE is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the City of Hamburg's Department of Culture and Media.

Dr Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media, underlines the importance of SPACE: "The success of nextMedia.Hamburg's media innovation space SPACE in the Speicherstadt also highlights the industry's desire for exchange and innovation. By joining forces, we have created a place where Germany's most important media and digital companies can meet start-ups and creative media makers and rethink traditional business models together. This combination of content, innovation and technology expertise, for example in the field of artificial intelligence, can significantly support the development of new media products from Hamburg. This is a place where new ideas can emerge in a creative environment."

Egbert Rühl, Managing Director of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft, expressed his thanks for the trust and support from politicians. "SPACE has shown that Hamburg's creative and technology sector not only develops innovative ideas, but is also prepared to think them through together. The high level of participation and the success of the first year confirm that we have taken the right path here in Hamburg."

Dr Nina Klaß, Head of nextMedia.Hamburg, presented the impressive results of the first year: "There was no role model for SPACE. We developed a vision from a need and finally a concrete offer. With this space, we want to offer local content and technology companies and start-ups a creative and forward-looking meeting place to exchange ideas and learn from each other. After a year, I can say that the concept is working!"

Impressive figures and successes

Since its opening, almost 7,000 people have used SPACE in a variety of ways. In the first year, over 80 different events took place, most of which were organised and carried out by the users themselves - supported by nextMedia.Hamburg.

In addition, 13 curated companies are already actively involved in the conceptual and content design of the SPACE. Their employees use the space for workshops, meetings, collaborative work and events. SPACE partners include well-known companies and institutions such as Google, Snap, Zeit Online, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, NOZ, Ströer, Bauer Media, Carlsen, Rocket Beans Entertainment, the pilot agency group, Jung von Matt, as well as the ARIC and nextReality.Hamburg associations as technology expertise partners. "For Ströer, SPACE is an innovative, modern office extension as well as a unique exchange, networking, learning and collaboration platform," says Christopher Kaiser, Co-CEO of Ströer Media Solutions GmbH.

Mirja Meyer, Managing Director at Jung von Matt TECH, also sees SPACE as a model for success in Hamburg: "SPACE is a real asset for Hamburg. We regularly use the
We regularly use the extraordinary premises for workshops and events and are delighted with the thematic exchange and knowledge sharing on site."

In addition, 19 teams from the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft incubators used SPACE to further develop their young companies. A further 14 start-ups benefited from new workspace funding and were able to use SPACE free of charge for six months, which helped them to attract investors and cooperation partners. In addition, creative professionals regularly use the open desk area for their work.

Survey results confirm high demand for exchange

According to a Civey survey commissioned by nextMedia.Hamburg, 76.6% of the employees surveyed stated that exchanging ideas with others is important to them in order to develop new ideas. 53.5 % are prepared to regularly leave their usual working environment in order to collaborate creatively with others.

Dr Nina Klaß sees this as a clear signal: "We see that there is a great need in the industry to exchange ideas with others in order to develop new ideas and drive projects forward. Internal surveys are also consistent with this. We are convinced that SPACE is the right instrument for strengthening the culture of innovation in Hamburg. Now it will be a matter of convincing the remaining 46.5% that ultimately only dialogue can unleash new impetus and ideas."

The themed festivals organised by nextMedia.Hamburg are just one example of the diverse formats that promote exchange on selected topics. Over the course of the first year, it has become clear that there is not primarily a lack of workspaces - the SPACE is not a conventional co-working SPACE. Rather, the focus is on sharing knowledge and learning together. For this reason, the location initiative has recently been trialling the format of so-called Challenge Days. On these days, experts from the industry come together to work on a specific challenge.

About the SPACE
SPACE is the first European project of its kind - a 600 square metre innovation space where companies, innovation drivers, start-ups and freelancers from the creative, media and digital industries can come together to discover potential, drive it forward creatively and experiment together. The focus is on forward-looking solutions relating to content, media technologies and digital business models. SPACE is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the City of Hamburg's Department of Culture and Media. Further information on SPACE can be found at www.space-hamburg.de.

About the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft
Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft is the city's organisation for the promotion of Hamburg's creative industries. As a direct contact and service centre, it is open to all creative players and companies in the Hanseatic city. More knowledge, space, funding and innovation for Hamburg's creatives - that is the mission to which the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft has dedicated itself since 2010. One of its tasks is to improve the framework conditions for the creative industries in Hamburg and to act as an interface - between the various sectors of the creative industries, but also with other players from business, politics and society.

About nextMedia.Hamburg
nextMedia.Hamburg is the first point of contact and innovation support centre for Hamburg's media and digital industry. Its aim is to expand Hamburg's leading position as a media and digital centre. To this end, the initiative promotes sustainable business models at the interface between content and technology with various (innovation) programmes, events and content. nextMedia.Hamburg is supported by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and is part of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft. Further information on the initiative can be found at www.nextmedia-hamburg.de.

* Civey conducted an online survey of 500 employees in marketing, culture, media, communication and IT (industry) for nexMedia from 1 August 2024 to 15 August 2024. The results are representative due to quotas and weightings, taking into account the statistical error of 8.0 to 8.5 percentage points in the respective overall result.