30.11.2025

ukraine.saxony.tech Business Days 2025

Recap

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3.-5. November 2025 (Dresden, Mittweida, Leipzig, Chemnitz, Großweitzschen, Zwickau)

Picture: © WFS

ukraine.saxony.tech 2025 – Closer than we think 🇺🇦🇩🇪🤝🇪🇺⚙️ Only 574 kilometers lie between Ukraine and Germany — with Saxony as the closest German region. In technology and mindset, that distance feels even shorter.

More than twenty Ukrainian entrepreneurs and engineers – ranging from software and artificial intelligence to industrial manufacturing and microelectronics – came to Saxony in November 2025 to explore opportunities for cooperation with Saxon technology companies.

The ukraine.saxony.tech Business Days 2025 were designed as a closed format to enable technical discussions without communicative barriers in a protected setting. In total, the delegation met with almost fifty Saxon companies from industry, technology and applied research.
 

A SAXONY!visit Programme

Gigahertz Ventures GmbH organised the programme together with Saxony Trade and Invest (Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen). The initiative was part of SAXONY!visit and was funded by the Saxon State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour, Energy and Climate Protection (SMWA) (funding notice). The concept for ukraine.saxony.tech 2025 was initiated by us in 2024, developed jointly with SAXONY!visit and subsequently implemented together. Preparation of the programme was supported by Ukraine Desk.

Industrial compatibility – focus on factory floors

Picture: © Gigahertz Ventures

The exchange took place both in meeting rooms and directly on factory floors: production halls, automated lines, assembly and testing zones, production-related logistics areas and technical laboratory environments. The focus was on real processes, process windows, tolerances and scalability – where industrial decisions are actually made.

The Ukrainian tech industry operates at high speed, with short development cycles and a strong prototyping culture. These characteristics complement Saxony’s industrial depth in precision, quality standards and scalable manufacturing structures. The operational compatibility between the two systems was clearly evident.

Workshops in Mittweida – co-innovation, co-production, digitalization

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Following the company visits, workshops were held at Werkbank 32 in Mittweida, conducted with the support of Hochschule Mittweida. The location brings together applied research, industry-oriented infrastructure and young technology companies.

The three modules covered:

• Co-production and joint industrial development
• Digitalisation and manufacturing processes
• Research and technology validation

Discussions focused on electronic and mechanical components, available manufacturing capacities, scaling logic and process integration in line with industrial standards. The emphasis was on realistic technical cooperations that can be implemented in the near term. A particular highlight of the evening was a warm welcome to the guests in Ukrainian by Professor Tolkmitt, Rector of Hochschule Mittweida.



Deep tech made in Saxony – carbon capture and high-performance lasers

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In addition to established Saxon technology companies, the delegation visited two Saxon deep-tech start-ups:

• enadyne (Leipzig): plasma-based carbon capture conversion processes and CO₂ recycling technology; insights into laboratory setup, system architecture and scale-up challenges.
• Antacon (Mittweida): high-intensity laser systems; the focus was on optical design, material behaviour, precision requirements and industrial application logic.
  

These visits complemented the impressions gained from classical production environments with examples of genuine deep tech emerging as spin-offs from Saxony’s research landscape.



Accumulator Campus and VW plant Zwickau – production and logistics logic

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Part of the delegation gained insights at the Accumulator Campus Zwickau and the VW plant in Zwickau into production- and logistics-related areas surrounding battery modules, automated lines, material flow, quality assurance and industrial scaling requirements.

Discussions focused on process windows, maturity levels and integration logics that are directly relevant for Ukrainian hardware teams.

hub:disrupt – access to automation and digital companies

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On the third day, the delegation met at hub:disrupt: The Tech Festival for Co-Innovation in Dresden, held at Volkswagen’s Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden, where companies from the fields of automation, digital production technology and energy infrastructure were represented.

Maksym Riznychenko (ECOFACTOR) gave a presentation in which he illustrated, by way of example, how energy and infrastructure technologies can be scaled under wartime conditions and transferred into e-mobility contexts.

The event, organised by Smart Systems Hub, provided a precise overview of regional capabilities. It also included an introductory tour and presentations of initial selected contacts.

Exchange with Saxon start-ups at YETI HQ Dresden

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One element of the programme was a joint evening format at the headquarters of YETI Dresden. The Ukrainian participants met founders and teams from the Dresden and wider Saxon start-up ecosystem.

The focus was on direct exchange regarding technology approaches, market logics, scaling issues and operational experience – including the specific conditions under which start-ups in Ukraine are currently operating.

Start-ups from Leipzig (YETI Leipzig) also took part in the evening; their founders had found refuge in Saxony with their families as teenagers as a result of the war.

Context – structural positioning

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Since 2022, economic cooperation between Saxony and Ukraine was initially severely restricted due to the war. At the same time, new forms of practical cooperation emerged immediately – in the humanitarian field, in energy and medical infrastructure, and in technical emergency-related areas.

Despite the still challenging situation, cooperation is now developing again beyond these fields, driven by the prospects of reconstruction and Ukraine’s EU accession process.

Saxony has dense clusters in microelectronics, mechanical engineering, automotive/e-mobility and applied research. This environment meets a Ukrainian technology ecosystem characterised by speed, short development cycles and strong prototyping capabilities. The operational compatibility became particularly evident on the factory floors.



Cultural and regional impressions

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What would a visit to Saxony be without insights into the cultural and natural richness of the Free State? Despite the dense agenda, there was still time for short visits to Dresden’s historic old town, Moritzburg Castle near Dresden, and the visitor centre of Chemnitz, European Capital of Culture 2025.



Summary – key observations

Picture: © Gigahertz Ventures

The three days made several points clearly evident:

• Ukrainian agility in IT, prototyping and production meets Saxon and German precision – genuine industrial deep tech, not its inflated interpretation.
• The results-driven approach of the Ukrainian teams accelerates cooperation; Saxon structures provide the framework for quality and scaling.
• Trust and direct interaction proved more relevant than formal frameworks or organisational architecture.

ukraine.saxony.tech 2025 was the second industrial format of the year initiated and substantially initiated and organised by us (through our spin-off ua.ventures / Ukraimpulse), following the June 2024 "Smart Water Ukraine" and the July 2025 “Deep Dive Ukraine & Germany: Automotive & Tech” in Berlin, complemented by several formats of ua.ventures and Gigahertz Ventures in Ukraine since 2023.

Дякую und Danke 🇺🇦🤝🙏🇩🇪

We thank all participating Ukrainian and Saxon partners for their openness, the technical discussions and their concrete interest in cooperation.

Our thanks also go to the following Saxon companies for granting direct access to their production and development environments: Auman Limbach-Oberfrohna GmbH, Antacon GmbH Mittweida, Enadyne GmbH Leipzig, IMM electronics GmbH Mittweida, LZS Leichtbau Zentrum Sachsen GmbH Dresden, LiCoMo GmbH Großweitzschen, Mikromat GmbH Dresden, NILES - SIMMONS Chemnitz, SUPRATIX GmbH Dresden, Volkswagen Werk Zwickau, Wandelbots GmbH Dresden.

Special thanks are due to Saxony Trade and Invest / Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen (WFS), which contributed strongly in both a coordinating and substantive role and made the implementation of the programme possible through the SAXONY!visit project.

We also extend our thanks to Hochschule Mittweida, YETI HQ Dresden, Amt für Wirtschaftsförderung der Stadtverwaltung Zwickau, AMZ – Netzwerk Automobilzulieferer Sachsen, Ukraine Desk, and AHK Ukraine for their constructive cooperation.

Why we do this as business angels

Picture: © WFS

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Gigahertz Ventures has actively supported Ukraine.

Our humanitarian projects “Bus-Loads of Hope” and "Buses for Bucha" in 2022 were followed, from 2023 onwards, by initiatives to develop innovation ecosystems as well as industry-oriented exchange formats between Ukrainian and German technology companies.

Since 2025, Gigahertz Ventures has been founding partner and shareholder of ua.ventures elevated GmbH, which aims to make German early-stage capital accessible to Ukrainian founders. Our objectives are to:

• generate industrial and technological value with immediate relevance for both sides,
• bring together networks that would not connect without active facilitation,
  gain operational and technical insights in order to make well-founded investment decisions,
• identify concrete investment opportunities at the intersection of Ukrainian speed and German industrial precision,
• and enable clear industrial connectivity for companies on both sides – technically, organisationally and financially.

Companies interested in future formats or in investing or becoming active in Ukraine together with us are welcome to contact us at any time.