Partner

As the Business Promotion Agency of the State of Bavaria, Invest in Bavaria supports companies from Germany and abroad and from a wide range of sectors in finding the ideal location in Bavaria, so that they can be successful right from the moment they settle here. Invest in Bavaria has been in existence since 1999 and offers companies a wealth of services for all stages of setting up a business in the state, from the planning phase, throughout the search for and selection of a location, to implementation. Even once companies are successfully settled, Invest in Bavaria continues to support them, such as during a planned expansion.

Bayern International was set up in 1995 by the Bavarian Government as a competent organisation to promote foreign trade. It was founded within the scope of the "Offensive Zukunft Bayern" (Initiative to make Bavaria fit for the future) financed by privatisation revenue. In close cooperation with partners in government and the private sector, Bayern International supports enterprises located in Bavaria and helps them establish international business cooperations.

Bayern Handwerk International (BHI) is the export promotion agency for Bavarian skilled crafts. BHI helps craft enterprises to develop new sales markets in foreign countries, offers export counselling and organises communal stands at trade fairs in Germany and abroad. The organisation is supported by the six Bavarian chambers of trades and crafts in collaboration with the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology.

Bayern Innovativ GmbH is the hub for innovation and knowledge transfer, cooperation platforms and networks. It initiates cross-sectoral and cross-discipline technology cooperation projects with academia, but also within industry, with a view to opening up avenues for new contracts, new lines of business and new markets and developing new products and processes. Bayern Innovativ has a customer network of 55,000 companies and 500 institutes in 50 countries.

Bayern Innovativ develops concepts for conventions and forums, identifies current fields of innovation and secures speakers and exhibitors as well as participants from industry and science who are interested in the latest developments, pursue forward-pointing strategies and have a vision for their own business.

At Bayern Innovativ, knowledge transfer is continuously implemented by means of Newsletters, E-Letters, Internet portals, Congress TV and the Bayern Innovativ Journal. With a combination of cooperation platforms for personal contact and ongoing transfer of knowledge, Bayern Innovativ develops innovation networks with a hallmark of their own - regional, national and international.

With its Cluster Initiative, the Bavarian State Government boosts the competitiveness of Bavarian companies in 17 key sectors. To this end, Bavaria has set up cluster platforms to network companies and research institutions operating in these sectors throughout the State. The clusters help companies to jointly develop products, optimise company procedures and conquer markets together. The clusters and their companies – in the meantime there are some 5,300 firms taking part – have become crucial stakeholders in the Bavarian innovation landscape.

With over 8,000 events and 464,000 participants, they enhance transparency in their respective fields of competence. In 1.100 individual projects, they network many small and mid-sized enterprises and also bring companies previously less invested in research activities closer to scientific communities.
The clusters also provide support on globalisation issues and work closely with the Foreign Trade Department in the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The LfA has established itself as a bank of the State of Bavaria specialising in financial assistance for projects undertaken by industrial enterprises and other activities to strengthen Bavaria’s position as a top business location.

In collaboration with commercial banks and savings banks, it helps small and medium-sized companies in particular to finance investments in the fields of start-up, growth, innovation and protection of the environment.

For foreign trade, the LfA Bank provides counter-guarantees to finance foreign contracts and furnishes guarantees and low-interest loans for foreign investments, under the proviso that such projects are likely to generate positive effects for Bavaria.