Spotlight on Berlin-Brandenburg: Building Europe’s Photonics Future at Tech Tour Photonics Berlin 2025
At Tech Tour Photonics Berlin 2025 (9–10 October), Europe’s photonics community is gearing up for two days of high-impact networking, investment, and innovation exchange in one of the continent’s most vibrant deep-tech hubs.
At the heart of this year’s investment programme are two key regional partners driving the momentum behind
Berlin-Brandenburg’s thriving photonics ecosystem — Berlin Partner for Business and Technology, the economic development agency promoting innovation, investment, and growth in the German capital, and OpTecBB, the capital region’s leading industrial network for optics, photonics, microelectronics and quantum technologies.
In a joint interview, Gerrit Rössler, Head of Unit Photonics, Microelectronics and Quantum Technologies at Berlin Partner, and Dr. Adrian Mahlkow, Managing Director of OpTecBB, share their insights on what makes the region a powerhouse for photonics innovation, how they support emerging startups and scaleups, and why Tech Tour Photonics Berlin 2025 is such a timely platform to connect ideas with investors, and research with real-world impact.
TT: Berlin and Brandenburg are well-known hubs for innovation. From your perspective, what makes this region particularly strong and attractive in the field of photonics and photonics-enabled technologies?
Adrian Mahlkow: The region is home to about 400 companies and institutions working in this field, a wide range of applications laser systems, medical devices, quantum, microfabrication, active at research and industrial level — it makes for an ideal landscape for innovation, one of the strongest worldwide. The region covers the whole supply chain from software/simulation to mass production in photonics, also with excellence in research.
Gerrit Rössler: Berlin and Brandenburg have emerged as a leading hub for photonics and photonics-enabled technologies. Foremost, the region boasts a dense and highly collaborative ecosystem of 35 research institutions and universities covering a wide spectrum of photonics research and development as well as talent generation together with about 400 innovative companies.
The region’s ecosystem also benefits from strong political and financial support for high-tech innovation, including targeted funding programs and infrastructure investments that foster growth in photonics.
Moreover, Berlin’s international appeal and Brandenburg’s spatial capabilities create a powerful synergy. Berlin attracts top talent from around the world, while Brandenburg offers space and resources for scaling up production and prototyping. Together, they form a dynamic environment where ideas can move quickly from lab to market.
Finally, the region’s openness to interdisciplinary collaboration provides a particularly fertile ground for photonics-enabled innovation. This convergence is driving breakthroughs in areas like medical diagnostics, autonomous systems, and environmental sensing.
TT: Photonics thrives at the intersection of science, business, and investment. How does your organisation contribute to building bridges between research institutions, industry players, and investors?
AM: OptecBB has a range of pillars that help to bridge the different sectors: through events, personal contact and projects; also with a strong role in local politics through our photonics cluster, representing the interests and needs of our industrial partners.
GR: Berlin Partner actively supports the initiation and growth of hubs, networks and ecosystems between companies and research institutions in specific technology fields. Integrating investors into these ecosystems has become an important element. Opportunities for investors to meet startups include, for example, incubation and acceleration programmes run by us or our partners, or hosting dedicated networking and matching events like Tech Tour.
TT: Both of your organisations actively work with young companies. How do you support photonics startups and scaleups — whether in terms of access to funding, networking, or internationalisation?
AM: At OptecBB, we have a special free membership for startups and offer them support through some of the projects we participate in. Especially with the direct connection to our industrial partners and international network cooperations (in Poland, Netherlands, Spain, US, etc), we help them to understand the real needs and niches of the industry, so they can create concrete business and cooperation opportunities. For our scaleups we provide business development to identify the part of the supply chain that is needed.
GR: Berlin Partner as part of the Startup Unit Berlin offers a comprehensive support package for photonics startups and scaleups. Key areas of support include guidance on selecting and applying for suitable funding programs such as the Berlin Startup Stipend, introduction to the thriving deep tech startup ecosystem with its numerous business angels, technology incubators and accelerators and access to a strong network of companies, research institutions, and policy stakeholders. Moreover, Berlin Partner organizes cluster and networking events, workshops, delegation trips and international trade fairs to foster collaboration and assist in identifying innovation needs & targeted matchmaking with suitable partners from academia and industry.
TT: Photonics is a global industry with applications across healthcare, mobility, energy, and more. Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities for European startups, and how can Berlin-Brandenburg position itself internationally?
AM: Currently we see a strong development and business in the enabling technologies for deep tech. Several of the new technologies (Quantum, AI, PICs) require fundamental systems, such as lasers or micro manufacture, that our members provide. Innovation in this field today can mean big revenue tomorrow. As a region we should take care of the valuable ecosystem we have, provide good support to our hidden champions and — very importantly — to our young future workforce, which we do through some of our talent programs and events (PhD2CEO, Working in Photonics, etc). We also take in account the emerging field of defence with strong partners in the region. We’re asked to co-organise sessions and fairs in this field.
GR: We see strong global market trends in AI, semiconductors, quantum technologies as well as security and defense. In all those areas photonics is a key enabling technology. Startups active in these fields can benefit from significant governmental support schemes, designed to strengthen their economic resilience and technological sovereignty. So do the Berlin Senate and Berlin Partner by fostering the creation of hubs, networks and ecosystems in those areas.
TT: How do you see the value Tech Tour Photonics Berlin 2025 creates — both for the companies attending, and for the broader photonics ecosystem in Berlin, Brandenburg, and Europe?
AM: One of the important challenges is to offer good investment [matchmaking] opportunities, for the young companies as well as for the investors — and events like Tech Tour help to identify several of the involved aspects, understand who the relevant players are on both sides, and show off the strong local talent and possibilities we offer regionally (infrastructure, funding programs, tech), in order to attract top players and bring them closer to our region.
GR: Berlin, as well as many other European regions, has a vibrant startup ecosystem, which has received increased political and financial support over recent years. But scaling a hardware startup in photonics usually demands significant investments in physical assets, and Europe traditionally suffers from lower penetration of venture capital, as compared to other regions, like the US.
Tech Tour contributes to overcome this structural deficit by raising awareness of photonics as key enabling technology in global market trends and its potential for profitable investments among VC investors, as well as provides a platform to match both sides.
Therefore, we highly appreciate the opportunity to host Tech Tour Photonics 2025 in Berlin.
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With over 30 selected companies, 40+ seasoned investors, and 80+ one-to-one meetings, Tech Tour Photonics Berlin 2025 promises to shine a light on the technologies, talent, and trends shaping the future of photonics and photonics-enabled industries across Europe.
Join us in Berlin this week to connect with pioneering startups, visionary investors, and ecosystem leaders — and experience firsthand how collaboration across science, business, and capital continues to make the Berlin-Brandenburg region a true beacon of innovation.
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