You yourself also founded a subsidiary company at umlaut in 2017. How does that differ from this kind of start-up investment?
The difference is that we are investing in whole new fields of business. Gastronomy is, for example, already far removed from our everyday arena. This is brave but we dare to do it. After all, our confidence is based on our comprehensive know-how, for example in the field of digitalisation. That’s why we are also to provide our knowledge and expertise, alongside the financing. We are a powerhouse of skills and we already have market access for many industries.
What do you expect from the initiative for umlaut?
We are always driven by innovation, even when it comes to our existing companies. In principal, we have been founding start-ups for over 20 years. What we are thinking about more is how this can also work with external parties. For example, with large industrial companies who want to form spin-off companies, or small conglomerates who say: Hey, should we collaborate on this?
Start-ups offer an additional possibility here to go a step further – for example, to completely break out of the business that characterises our daily lives. Of course, this also involves higher risk in part – not every idea has wings. However, this is what we want to convey to our employees too: Push these issues and help shape your career path. Be brave and do good things. Nothing can hold back good ideas – once they have gained momentum.