Societe Generale widens its international open innovation approach through a partnership with the Factory community in Berlin

Published on 07/06/2017

Societe Generale Group announces a new partnership with Factory in Berlin, the first and largest startup campus in Germany that connects startups and corporate, effective June 1st.

Out of Societe Generale’s six locations in the country, Berlin stood out as the best base from which to accelerate innovation projects: it is one of Europe’s leading ecosystems, boasting startups and fintechs, and a center of excellence for design thinking.

A dedicated team to connect business with the ecosystem
A new Societe Generale team, based at Factory, will support the Group’s innovation projects by leveraging on the German innovation ecosystem. This new team will work for all German Societe Generale business entities, which are already collaborating with some 20 German startups. In addition, Societe Generale Group is also collaborating with German startups on an international level.

The team at Factory will connect our different businesses with the creative actors of the ecosystem, and enable us to deliver innovative user-centered solutions faster. For us, Factory is the perfect place to get access to these young companies and digital talents and to profit by our transversal approach for the entire Societe Generale Group in Germany and abroad.

Guido Zoeller, Societe Generale Group Country Head Germany and Austria

We’re looking forward to our partnership, driving innovation projects together. As a global financial expert, Societe Generale will be a perfect match for our community.

Udo Schloemer, CEO and Founder Factory Berlin.

A further step in the Societe Generale global open innovation approach
One strong priority of the Group’s global open innovation strategy is to increase contacts and investments with the digital ecosystem to better qualify the startups and FinTechs that could meet the business lines needs. 

The team will therefore also work with the Innovation division at Group level, thus being part of Societe Generale’s international innovation network, with already active innovative hubs around the globe:

  • Le Plateau, in France, located at Les Dunes (the Group’s new technopole in the East of Paris), is a 1 000m2 space dedicated to fostering cooperation between internal and external project teams and FrenchTech ecosystems.  By creating a community for sharing resources, experience and knowledge, Le Plateau offers ideal conditions for innovation.
  • Africa Innovation Lab in Dakar, Senegal, is designed to stimulate and speed up innovation in all Group subsidiaries in Sub-Saharian Africa. This action-focused "think tank" is an innovation incubator, especially for initiatives coming from Societe Generale's African subsidiaries.
  • Catalyst, a startup accelerator program in India, aims at leveraging on the rich ecosystem of Indian startups. The selected startups get to work on different themes based on banking business challenges, with guidance from Societe Generale to co-create solutions to meet the Bank’s customers’ needs.
  • ALD Automotive Mobility Experience Centre in Amsterdam: a high place of creation dedicated to innovation, where to experience the latest trends and developments related to mobility.

This partnership is in line with Societe Generale’s open innovation strategy: by strengthening our relationships with the German ecosystem we will be inspired and challenged by experts, thus accelerating the transformation of our mindsets and work methods. Starting outside of our own premises is also a way to allow more experimentations and disruptive projects, which will better serve our clients.

Aymeril Hoang, Head of Group Innovation, Societe Generale

Press Contact:
Elke Pawellek
elke.pawellek@sgcib.com Tel: +49 (0)69 7174 503

Astrid Fould Bacquart
astrid.fould-bacquart@socgen.com Tel: +33 1 56 37 67 95
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