AI Hub Rhineland: Cologne & France | STARTPLATZ - STARTPLATZ
AI Hub Rhineland · Cologne · NRW · France

Open Source AI Competence Center at STARTPLATZ:
Shaping Europe’s Digital Future Together

At STARTPLATZ in Cologne, we work with AI instead of just talking about it. Our goal: to build products and projects in Europe that truly make a difference – combining strong technology from France with a unique field of application in NRW.

Invitation for French Startups & Industry Partners
Illustration: Paris meets Cologne – AI in Europe
France & Paris

France as a European AI Hotspot

France – and especially Paris – is now one of the most visible AI hubs in Europe. Competitive AI models, strong deep tech teams and a clear view on digital sovereignty meet an environment where talent, capital and research are tightly connected.

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Deep Tech & Models

High-performance AI models and teams – including providers such as Mistral – position Europe on a genuine technological level playing field.

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Visibility & Profile

Paris gives the idea of “AI from Europe” a clear profile – with international reach and strong signalling power.

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Dynamic Hub

A vibrant ecosystem of startups, research, investors and corporates keeps the momentum going and creates new impulses.

In Europe, France stands above all for three things: technology, visibility and impact.

North Rhine-Westphalia

Applied AI in Europe’s Industrial Heartland

North Rhine-Westphalia is Europe’s industrial heartland. This is where mid-sized companies and global players operate, where energy providers, logistics hubs, media companies, retailers and public administrations are located – exactly the actors who need AI to move from buzzword to tool.

Cologne, Düsseldorf and NRW as a whole have a clear profile: strong in applied AI and ecosystem building, with many sectors where AI can be put to work immediately and with people who prefer doing to merely talking. We are not “San Francisco” – but we are certainly not a provincial AI location either.

Sector Strength

Industry, energy, logistics, media, retail and public sector – dense and well connected.

Reality Check

“Applied AI in real Europe”: AI has to work under real-world conditions here.

Market Potential

Millions of potential users and customers in one of Europe’s most important economic regions.

France brings deep tech and narrative, NRW brings the reality of application.

Cologne

A Central Node in the Rhineland and a Launchpad into NRW

Within this setup, Cologne is our natural center: an urban node in the Rhineland, well connected to Düsseldorf, Bonn, the Ruhr area and the Bergisches Land – and only around three hours from Paris by Eurostar.

Cologne has the potential to become a genuine AI cluster in real Europe – not as a symbolic “AI city”, but as a practical place where people meet, projects start and products emerge. From here, Europe’s industrial heartland is within easy reach.

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Close to Paris

Three hours by train – ideal for regular exchange between the Paris AI hub and the Rhineland’s application power.

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Close to Industry

Direct access to the Rhineland, Bergisches Land and Ruhr area – one of Europe’s densest economic regions.

Our ambition: Cologne becomes the AI hub for NRW – and a launchpad into the German market.

STARTPLATZ

Enabler, Homebase and Showcase of the AI Ecosystem

STARTPLATZ is where these threads come together. We are not a research institute or a consultancy – we are the hub that empowers people, connects them and helps them turn AI into concrete products and projects.

We are technology-agnostic: we work with open-source and proprietary models alike. What matters is the impact they create in the Rhineland. And we focus on practice rather than declarations of intent: we prefer one working use case over ten slide decks.

Community & Meetups

The AI ecosystem meets here – regularly, visibly, openly:

AI Tinkerers Vibe Coding Meetup Claude Code Anonymous Women in AI OWASP Security Meetup Crypto Cologne

In addition, we host quarterly AI Coding Hackathons – most recently, for example, from 21–23 November.

Recurring Formats & Accelerator

We offer recurring anchor points and programs for the AI community:

  • AI Friday Cologne – regular meetup for the AI community in the Rhineland
  • AI Friday Düsseldorf – growing the scene along the Rhine
  • KI Accelerator NRW – one of the most relevant accelerator programs for AI startups in North Rhine-Westphalia
Strong Startups from the Region

Cologne and the Rhineland are home to some of the most exciting AI and tech companies:

octonomy ambersearch cognigy DeepL
Space & Infrastructure

Teams that want to stay, grow or build a local presence will find the right environment:

  • 4,500 m² private offices & coworking in Cologne
  • 2,000 m² private offices & coworking in Düsseldorf
Invitation

Invitation to French Startups and Industry Partners

We invite French AI startups and industry partners to use Cologne as a springboard into the German market – and to build projects and products together with us in Europe’s industrial heartland.

For French AI startups:
Use Cologne as your entry point into Germany. You are only three hours away from Paris – and from here you are right in the middle of one of the most attractive markets for industrial and business AI applications.

For industry partners from the French ecosystem – for example providers like Mistral:
If you want to reach more customers in Germany and strengthen your presence in Europe’s industrial core, Cologne with STARTPLATZ is the right place to become visible, build partnerships and develop solutions together with local players.

Cologne as the AI hub for NRW.
STARTPLATZ as your homebase.
France as a key partner.
And Europe as the market where we move things forward with AI – together.

Get in touch