Frankfurt Forward

Overview
Frankfurt Forward is a startup programme of the City of Frankfurt am Main. It brings together startups from Frankfurt Rhine-Main with established companies, investors and city politics through formats such as the annual Startup of the Year award, CEO meets CEO matchmaking, a Female Founders programme and International Matchmaking. Its imprint names the city's Department II for Economy, Law and Innovation as publisher, and Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt, the city's economic development company, lists Frankfurt Forward among its start-up services.

Why this entity matters
Frankfurt Forward matters as a reference entity because it is the City of Frankfurt's own instrument for connecting young companies with the region's large employers. Frankfurt's economy is dominated by banks, insurers, the airport and industrial groups, and the programme's CEO meets CEO format is built around that: startups pitch solutions to a concrete digital challenge of an established company. Its Startup of the Year award also produces a yearly shortlist of young B2B startups from the region, which is a useful signal for anyone tracking Frankfurt Rhine-Main.

Organisation history and activities
Frankfurt Forward's imprint names the City of Frankfurt am Main, Dezernat II Wirtschaft, Recht und Innovation, Römerberg 23, as responsible publisher. The 2021 annual report of Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt lists the "Start-up-Projekt Frankfurt Forward" among its services for founders and records the award ceremony for the Startup of the Year within the Frankfurt Forward programme, with Energy Robotics named that year's winner. On its website, Frankfurt Forward describes itself as an independent matchmaker for the Frankfurt Rhine-Main startup scene, with a network of chief executives and investors and a direct line to city politics, supported by the city and by more than 30 investors and chief executives from the region. The Startup of the Year is open to B2B startups with high digital value creation that are two to five years old, already on the market and based in Frankfurt Rhine-Main; after a written application and a live pitch to the jury, six finalists pitch at the year-end final, and all finalists become Frankfurt Forward alumni. The 2026 application phase has closed; the finalists listed on the website are Telekinesis, innocept mobility, FlyPix AI, Genow, ENVIOTECH and Capreolos. The jury shown on the website includes representatives of DVS Technology, Frankfurter Volksbank, Hessenmetall, KfW Group, Fraport, Air Liquide, Handwerkskammer Frankfurt-Rhein-Main and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Other formats are CEO meets CEO, a Female Founders programme, community events, a multi-day virtual International Matchmaking programme with partner countries and a Startup Declaration.

Role in the startup and technology landscape of Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Frankfurt Forward is a local programme, focused on Frankfurt am Main and the Rhine-Main region. It is one of several city-level startup initiatives in Germany that connect young companies with established local employers, and it sits alongside regional players such as the chambers of commerce and the state of Hesse's own startup support. Its eligibility rules, B2B and two to five years old, target startups past the earliest stage that are ready for corporate pilots.

Selected relationships and affiliations
Operator: City of Frankfurt am Main, Department II for Economy, Law and Innovation. Listed as a start-up project by Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt. Supporters: more than 30 investors and chief executives from the region (self-reported). Jury includes representatives of KfW Group, Fraport, Frankfurter Volksbank and others. Startup of the Year 2021 winner: Energy Robotics. Startuprad.io: named by Startuprad.io among its Frankfurt Rhine-Main cooperations.

Startuprad.io relevance
Startuprad.io has been based in Frankfurt am Main since 2014 and names Frankfurt Forward among its Frankfurt Rhine-Main cooperations in its twelfth-anniversary feature. This record does not describe the terms of that cooperation.

Startuprad.io coverage

Frankfurt Forward appears in the following Startuprad.io article.

Startuprad.io Turns 12: What Twelve Years of Startup Conversations Taught Us
Published: 31 October 2026
Last updated: 31 October 2026
Coverage type: Anniversary feature (cooperation list)
https://www.startuprad.io/post/startuprad-io-turns-12-what-twelve-years-of-startup-conversations-taught-us

Public source context
This profile draws on Frankfurt Forward's website https://frankfurtforward.com , its Startup of the Year page https://frankfurtforward.com/startup-of-the-year/ , its imprint https://frankfurtforward.com/impressum/ , the 2021 annual report of Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt https://frankfurt-business.net/fileadmin/user_upload/ueber-uns/2021_WFF_Jahresbericht-2021_Web.pdf , the competition listing on für-gründer.de https://www.fuer-gruender.de/gruenderwettbewerb/datenbank/startup-of-the-year-frankfurt-forward/ , and Startuprad.io's own coverage archive.

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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/frankfurt-forward