Thinkport

The digital sector has discovered Leipzig as a growth location. In the last 10 years, over 500 information technology companies have moved to the commercial city. This attraction is based on the fact that the location offers expertise at various levels: Here, the various IT competence centres such as InfAI or ScaDS.AI meet the experience and knowledge of a broad university landscape such as Leipzig University or HTWK Leipzig. Numerous companies have taken advantage of the ideal location conditions and settled in the trade fair city. In addition, there are networks such as the IT Cluster Central Germany, the Händlerbund or the Software Foren Leipzig, which ensure that all players are connected with each other. Leipzig's excellent infrastructure and central location in Central Germany also contribute to its attractiveness as a business location. Proximity to customers and fast connections are crucial for companies.

One company that has decided in favour of the Leipzig region is Thinkport GmbH. Tobias Drechsel, CEO of Thinkport GmbH, and Philipp D'Angelo, Branch Manager Leipzig, explain which decisions were decisive in favour of Leipzig.

Founded in Frankfurt am Main in 2018, Thinkport GmbH is a fast-growing IT consulting company specialising in cloud technology. In September 2020, the company opened its second location in Leipzig: "We are happy to have taken this step and moved to Leipzig to further develop Thinkport," says Tobias Drechsel. He explains that they originally considered moving to Munich. The decision was made in favour of Leipzig, however, as the skilled workers and the attractive geographical location were the deciding factors. The city is also in a constant state of flux: "Leipzig is a very up-and-coming city. A lot has changed here in recent years. That simply suits Thinkport. We are a company that is constantly trying to reinvent itself and develop further. We also needed two components - customer projects on the one hand and the right employees on the other. Leipzig has both," he explains.

"Of course there were a lot of uncertainties at the beginning," recalls Philipp D'Angelo, who started from scratch as branch manager in Leipzig. "But we were able to try out a lot," he says. The company started at the location with its work in the co-working space in order to settle in and find out whether the decision in favour of Leipzig was a good one. "After the initial recruitment, the uncertainty has subsided and we are excited to see how things will continue in Leipzig," smiles Philipp D'Angelo.

Networking and visibility in the region are important issues for companies - both in the search for skilled labour and in the acquisition of new customers. Thinkport has utilised these contacts. Leipzig, with its large number of associations that have a strong IT focus and are very well networked, offers a major advantage for companies that are new to the region. "We got off to a very good start in Leipzig and now have a team of eight people. We can imagine growing even further," explains Tobias Drechsel. They have no regrets about moving to Leipzig: "It was absolutely the right decision. We've found a great team in a great city, and the coworking space is ideal. There are many universities and therefore a very young spirit, which simply suits us."