More than 170,000 small and medium-sized businesses in Germany bring new products and services on to the market every year, and 35,000 of these companies are consistently involved in research and development. They are responsible for providing 80% of the apprenticeships and 70% of the jobs in Germany. (Source: Federal Ministry for Economy and Technology).

Growth and employment are thus increasingly sustained by future-oriented and modern medium-sized enterprises as well as by scientific university and research institutes. Thanks to their qualifications, flexibility, progressiveness and willingness to take risks,“sponsors”are highly attractive partners for innovation networks, andthereby constitute an important component of our "Germany - Land of Ideas" initiative.