Meet Members of Our Network
Successful innovation in the healthcare sector today is hardly possible without functioning partner networks. In the Medical Valley European Metropolitan Region of Nuremberg, with its 3.5 million people, we offer innovators an excellent network of research institutes, healthcare providers, funders, industrial partners, advisors, and investors. Our goal is to shorten the time from idea to implementation in clinical routine and to support our new entrepreneurs on the road to success.
Medical Valley is a prime example of how strong networks drive innovation. Erlangen brings together world-class research, healthcare providers, established companies, and startups to develop the healthcare solutions of tomorrow. This collaborative ecosystem has put our region on the map far beyond Germany’s borders and continues to strengthen its long-term competitiveness and growth.
Healthcare is a “team sport.” Medical Valley uniquely brings together the different regional healthcare “players” to jointly and collaboratively drive innovation for patients around the world. We are proud to be part of this one-of-a-kind team and to further strengthen it through ideas and concepts from our global partner network.
Walter Märzendorfer
Chairman of the Board, Medical Valley EMN e. V.
Jörg Volleth
Mayor, City of Erlangen
Dr. Bernd Montag
CEO, Siemens Healthineers
With Medical Valley, we found an outstanding and highly professional ecosystem from day one of our venture. The balancing act that Medical Valley manages very successfully should be emphasized: supporting young start-ups and established global market leaders with equal vigor.
Thanks to close cooperation with our partners in Medical Valley, we are able to treat patients using state-of-the-art technology, which means we have the latest diagnostic equipment at our disposal, which we can then evaluate, scientifically examine and further develop during clinical operations. This benefits everyone, not least the patients.
Medical Valley has developed into an important generator for innovation in medical technology ‘Made in Germany’. In the midst of an exceptionally dynamic scientific and industrial region, professional structures have been established to turn creative ideas into useful products. The key driver of this success is the tangible willingness of all stakeholders to work together in the interests of better healthcare for people. Numerous new companies have been founded in the region, that have been able to successfully establish themselves on the market–either alone or in partnership with already existing companies. In my opinion, this is an encouraging example of ‘German ingenuity at its best’.
Dr. Jannik Lockl
CEO & Co-Founder, inContAlert
Prof. Dr. med. Yurdagül Zopf
Senior Physician, Uniklinikum Erlangen
Prof. Dr. med. Jörg Debatin
Healthcare Entrepreneur
Medical Valley focuses on innovation, accelerates the commercialization of innovative ideas. It develops and tests open innovation approaches. Medical Valley thrives on the contribution of its partners!
Medical Valley is a unique network between science, business and politics in Germany. The initiative has achieved Europe-wide visibility and effectiveness, not least due by winning the Leading-Edge Cluster Competition organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
For us at CodeCamp:N, Medical Valley is the perfect extension to our technical expertise and our experience in product development. Medical Valley provides a combination of networking and extensive knowledge in the healthcare sector. As part of the Team-X incubator, we can offer teams optimal support in developing products from their innovative ideas.
Prof. Dr. Erich R. Reinhardt
Former Chairman of the Executive Board, Medical Valley EMN e. V.
Prof. Dr. Siegfried Balleis
Honorary Member and former Mayor, City of Erlangen
Maximilian Starck
Team Lead Business Insights & Solutions, CodeCamp:N
The Uniklinikum Erlangen stands for cutting-edge research and medicine. Innovations only fully realize their benefits when they reach patients. The close, long-standing collaboration between Uniklinikum Erlangen and Medical Valley creates the conditions for translating scientific findings into clinical practice more rapidly, thereby sustainably improving healthcare.
Our mission is to improve the quality of life of our customers through preventive approaches and to identify and minimize health risks at an early stage. Through our engagement with the Medical Valley network, we continuously refine and expand this understanding. The collaboration bridges scientific insight and business practice, creating opportunities for innovative solutions – for example, through new early detection technologies or personalized health services. In this way, we also support young companies in scaling their ideas while strengthening our role as a partner in prevention.
Achieving more together. Medical Valley is more than just a network: collaboration and mutual support drive innovation, enhance international visibility, and strengthen competitiveness—from startups to global corporations. All with one shared goal: improving healthcare for people.
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heinrich Iro
Medical Director and Chairman of the Board, Uniklinikum Erlangen
Katja Briones-Schulz
Member of the Board, Nürnberger Beteiligungs-AG
Dr. Uwe Kirschstein
Former Mayor, City of Forchheim
Medical Valley drives the priority field ‘Medicine & Health’ within the ‘Growth and Employment Strategy’ (WaBe) of the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, a joint framework for economic development and jobs. With more than 150,000 employees, it is a key engine of innovation, growth, and global competitiveness. It exemplifies how our region strategically develops future-oriented sectors and translates them into economic success.
Medical Valley holds a very special position in the Nuremberg metropolitan region: it crosslinks small and large players in the healthcare system and creates opportunities to successfully implement innovative ideas in practice. mentalis GmbH has benefited directly from this networking and was able to conclude an important health insurance contract through Medical Valley contacts.
To invest in training, teaching and research alongside clinical operations in order to shape the healthcare of tomorrow in the best possible way: Our philosophy fits perfectly with that of Medical Valley.
Markus Lötzsch
Dr. Christian A. Lukas
Managing Director, mentalis
Prof. Dr. Achim Jockwig
Chairman of the Board, Klinikum Nuremberg
Medical Valley is internationally one of the most vital ecosystems in the field of digital health. The process of converting science into the healthcare sector and healthcare service that is practiced there is unique and allows us to be part of one of the most innovative regions in the healthcare sector worldwide.
The healthcare system of tomorrow presents us with enormous challenges. At the same time, key technologies such as microelectronics, sensor technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) are creating new opportunities for preventive and personalized medicine. With Medical Valley, we have a strong ecosystem in the region – because sustainable progress is achieved through collaboration.
CardiLink GmbH was born in the Medical Valley Centre in Erlangen. This is where we took our first steps and matured. The great network and always helpful team at Medical Valley gave us the boost we needed.
Prof. Dr. Steffen Hamm
Digital Healthcare Management at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Health, Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH) Amberg-Weiden
Prof. Dr. Giovanni Del Galdo
Executive Director, Fraunhofer IIS
Lars Wassermann
Founder & CEO, CardiLink
Medical Valley is a cross-system company, that initiates and supports innovation in medical technology, robotics and digital care projects. Integrating these innovations into the care cycle advances both: The healthcare industry and patient care in tandem.
A unique feature of Medical Valley is trust. The individual players from industry, research, university, clinic, healthcare and young researchers with good ideas do not hide but share them and implement them together. These opportunities and trust are inspiring and infectious.
At Siemens Healthineers, we are pioneering healthcare. For every person. Everywhere. Tackling the most threatening diseases is a real challenge that we believe can only be tackled together. Medical Valley provides the right ecosystem for different healthcare players to work together by developing solutions that speed up the pace of innovation and accelerate time-to-market.
Xaver Frauenknecht
Chairman of the Board, Klinikum Neumarkt
Dr. Kurt Höller
Senior Director Digital Affairs in the Healthcare Vertical Market Team, Siemens
André Hartung
Former President of Diagnostic Imaging, Siemens Healthineers
Medical Valley provides an excellent network for both established companies and early-stage startups. Looking from both perspectives, the diverse partners, events, and initiatives always ensure the discovery of new business potentials and opportunities for cooperation.
From Erlangen into the world and with people at its core: Medical Valley European Metropolitan Region Nuremberg crosslinks and develops its unique scientific and economic expertise in healthcare into a leading international medical technology cluster.
For us, Medical Valley means more than just an excellent network with partners from business, research and the public sector. For us, it is a strategic partner in the design of innovative and market-orientated solutions and services in the future field of digital health.
Robin Gieck
Co-Founder, hubql
Dr. Florian Janik
Former Mayor, City of Erlangen
Prof. Dr. Albert Heuberger
Former Executive Director, Fraunhofer IIS