Mayor Eckart Würzner said: “Through our partnership, we are sending a clear message: German and European innovation hubs can only survive in the global marketplace through collaboration. This is because international competition in the fields of life sciences, biotechnology, and deep tech is growing rapidly. Regions such as Boston, Cambridge, and Singapore demonstrate how important strong, interconnected innovation ecosystems are for scientific progress, economic dynamism, and the establishment of forward-looking companies. That is why our cooperation is deliberately open to additional partners who wish to join us in our goal of creating a strong, supraregional innovation region.”

Mayor Nino Haase of Mainz, the state capital, emphasized: “Mainz and Heidelberg exemplify the strength of our entire region. With this partnership, we are bringing key players closer together and creating new momentum for innovation, startups, and growth. We want to leverage existing potential in a targeted manner, enhance our international appeal, and work together to ensure that excellent research leads even more quickly to concrete applications and economic success. I am all the more pleased that we will soon be able to welcome Heidelberg to Mainz as well—because true collaboration begins when we actively practice it from the very start.”

The signing ceremony was also attended by representatives of the central innovation and development structures of both cities: Marc Massoth, Head of Economic Development and Managing Director of the Heidelberg Technology Park; Felix Wälder, Managing Director of biomindz Entwicklungsgesellschaft Mainz; Julia Schaft, Managing Director of BioRN; and Dirk Schmitt, Managing Director of the Life Science Center Mainz with the BioVation RLP networking platform.

Heidelberg and Mainz see themselves as key players in a biotech and innovation region that stretches from Mainz in the north through Darmstadt and Kaiserslautern to the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region—which includes Heidelberg, Mannheim, and Ludwigshafen—and on to Karlsruhe and Heilbronn. This interconnected innovation hub ranks among Germany’s most dynamic technology and science hubs and offers significant potential for startup growth in biotechnology, health, artificial intelligence, and deep tech.

The partnership aims to strengthen the networking within this ecosystem, pool strengths, and create framework conditions that can compete with regions such as Munich or Berlin.

Heidelberg and Mainz boast excellent scientific institutions, internationally renowned clinics, a vibrant startup scene, and high-growth biotech companies. Building on this foundation, the collaboration is based on the following pillars:

• Complementary strengths: Heidelberg is a leading international hub for basic research, translation, and data-driven medicine. Mainz has made a name for itself worldwide as a research-intensive location with
  its biotechnology and vaccine innovations and possesses strong industrial value chains.
• Dynamic startup ecosystems: Both cities actively support startups and spin-offs from academia and clinics and have growing venture and innovation networks.
• High international visibility: The region is already a globally recognized life sciences hotspot—this needs to be made even more visible.
• Shared responsibility for the future: The cities aim to create conditions that accelerate innovation, attract talent, and ensure sustainable economic strength for the region.

Through this MoU, Heidelberg and Mainz are committing to close strategic and operational cooperation. This includes, in particular:

• Joint programs and projects between the two technology parks
• Testbeds, sandbox formats, and startup services that provide companies and founders with access to both locations
• Supraregional infrastructure and land development to support growth and business establishment
• Exchange formats between companies, research institutions, and clinics
• Joint location marketing and internationalization to raise the region’s global profile

The greater region around Heidelberg and Mainz is already one of Germany’s top three biotech hubs. This is according to the study “Assessing Deep-Tech Innovation Hubs in Germany: The Case of Biotechnology,” published in 2025 by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Institute for Deep Tech Innovation at the European School of Management and Technology Berlin. The “Heidelberg Hub” defined in the study extends from Heidelberg through Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, and Heilbronn to Mainz and Wiesbaden—demonstrating the great potential of a cohesive innovation region.