What Makes Small Regions Great
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Date
Business | Unexpected
DeepTech from Thuringia
Location
Paris
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The future of European deep tech innovations is not decided solely in the major metropolitan areas. Smaller, highly specialized regional ecosystems, in particular, can generate technological momentum when research, industry, and entrepreneurship are closely linked. Thuringia shows how this can work.
INNOVATION BETWEEN RUDOLSTADT AND WEIMAR
Rudolstadt and Weimar are not European startup hubs.
In Rudolstadt, Viktoria Rothleitner is working with Polytives on new materials for the plastics industry. The team is developing polymer-based process additives that can alter the processing of plastics even in small quantities.
About 50 kilometers away, in Weimar, Alexander Fröhlich-Kulik and his team at Consensive are developing a technology that allows people in different locations to work together in complex virtual 3D worlds. The technology developed by the Weimar-based startup builds on more than two decades of XR research conducted at the Bauhaus University Weimar.
Plastics and Extended Reality. Materials research and digital infrastructure. Two completely different technologies. And yet, two stories about how specialized knowledge gives rise to companies in Thuringia.
A HISTORY OF TRANSFORMATION SHAPES THE SPIRIT OF INNOVATION
The fact that stories like these emerge here has to do with the history of the location.
The history of transformation in eastern Germany is part of this strength. Much of what we take for granted today—new research clusters, technology-oriented companies, technology transfer structures, and startup networks—has emerged from decades of change.
Today, this is giving rise to companies such as Polytives and Consensive.
And they are not alone. openUC2 develops open, modular microscopy and photonics systems in Jena. IDloop is working there on contactless 3D fingerprint scanners, Indigo Optical Systems on high-precision optics for EUV and semiconductor applications. In Erfurt, OhMyV combines biomaterials with FemTech and new approaches to intimate health and STI prevention.
Thuringia and its history of transformation demonstrate how change gives rise to new technological momentum: Jena is one of Europe’s leading centers for photonics, Thuringia is among the regions in Germany with the highest number of patents, and the startup and research communities work closely together to develop market-ready technologies.
SIX STARTUPS BRING DEEPTECH FROM THURINGIA TO PARIS
In June 2026, the scene changed.
Polytives, Consensive, openUC2, IDloop, Indigo Optical Systems, and OhMyV traveled together to Paris for the VivaTech, one of Europe’s largest platforms for technology and startups.
Germany was named“Country of the Year”in 2026. More than 200,000 visitors from 165 countries and over 15,000 startups attended VivaTech. For the Thuringian founders, this meant international visibility and the opportunity to engage in discussions with companies, investors, and potential partners.
During the panel discussion “Ecosystem Showcase: Europe’s DeepTech Region,” the individual startup stories ultimately led to the broader question: What role can specialized regions play in Europe’s technological future?
Thuringia’s response to this was just a few meters away in the Startup Area.
Thuringia won’t copy Berlin or Paris. Nor does it need to.
Its strength may lie precisely in its smaller size: specialized enough to offer technological depth and close enough to bring together researchers, industry, and founders. After all, Europe’s next deep tech innovation doesn’t have to come from a major city.
It is produced in Thuringia.
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