Center for Innovation: FACC joins Strada del Startup

"As a technology partner of the aerospace industry, we are operating in a high-tech sector. Mobility is the topic of the future par excellence and is currently undergoing fundamental transformations. New technologies for passenger aircraft and innovative propulsion systems, electromobility and autonomous flying as well as Industry 4.0 and IoT are just a few of the fields of relevance to us," explains Robert Machtlinger, CEO of FACC, highlighting the main priorities in the mobility of tomorrow. "For FACC as an important player within the industry, research & technology is of enormous importance. Strada del Startup provides the perfect environment for innovation in addition to numerous developers working in the field of innovation management."

Strada del Startup, which was founded by the Tabakfabrik Linz and factory300, is a one-of-a-kind project in Europe and the first point of reference for start-ups and companies. Established companies and newly founded start-ups work side by side in a total of 57 private offices, thus benefiting from the know-how, innovative spirit and unique mindset of their "neighbors". The aim is to support start-ups with know-how, new contacts and support programs, whereas established companies are able to benefit from the unique spirit of innovation of the Tabakfabrik.

As a driver of innovation, FACC also makes use of the wide range of services offered by Strada del Startup: From the complete office structure and machine park to meet-ups with innovative founders and investors, the 230-metre-long production line provides a tailor-made environment which invites and fosters innovation, creativity and thinking "outside the box". From its very beginning, FACC has always stood out and made itself indispensable for its customers by developing solutions to problems that customers were sometimes not even aware of. FACC has thus always taken on the role of innovator. The questions to be answered are still the same: Which material know-how, which component concepts or, to put it more broadly, which mobility concepts are needed to actively shape the world in 2025 or 2030? In order to play a successful role here, FACC must start thinking today about the mobility of tomorrow. The spirit of Strada del Startup will further stimulate FACC and provide food for thought according to the motto: BEyond horizons. FACC, in turn, can contribute its own experience as well as a huge network and thus act as a symbiotic enabler.

Christoph Schöndorfer, head of the FACC Innovation & Technology unit, initiated the Strada del Startup project at FACC in cooperation with factory300 and emphasizes the advantages of the creative area: "I am convinced that the cooperation with Strada del Startup in factory300 will have a very positive effect on the further development of FACC and will prove helpful in that we will be able to follow trends and technologies at an early stage and learn from its dynamism - also as a large, well-established company.”