This year's HANNOVER MESSE attracted more than 123,000 visitors and more than 4,000 exhibitors from over 60 countries. For green start-ups, this meant a stage with global reach. Whether AI-supported process optimization, resource-saving building materials, industrial waste heat recovery or sustainable battery storage - the range of solutions on show impressively demonstrated how innovative and practical the environmental industry in NRW already is today.

Ten start-ups - a strong signal

The KNUW joint stand united ten young companies that have one thing in common: They combine entrepreneurial courage with concrete solutions for a sustainable transformation of the industry. Accompanied by press reports, trade visitors and delegations from politics and business, the stand was a real crowd puller.

A particular highlight: NRW Environment Minister Oliver Krischer visited the stand to find out about the start-ups' business models and praised their contribution to the transformation. "The environmental economy from NRW exports sustainability worldwide and has become a real job engine - you can see that very clearly here at the trade fair," said Krischer. The Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia has been using HANNOVER MESSE for many years to promote green start-ups as part of the state's environmental economy strategy and is organizing a joint stand. Experience reports from former exhibitors show that this works.

From NRW to the world: international attention for conwerk

The company conwerk provided a particularly impressive example of the success of trade fair participation. The startup was already represented at HANNOVER MESSE 2024 and used the 2025 stage to tell its success story.

conwerk is exemplary for many green founders from NRW who received decisive impetus for their international development at the trade fair.

NRW start-ups with a tailwind

The strong presence at the trade fair shows: The environmental economy in NRW is on course for growth - technologically, economically and internationally. According to the Green Start-up Monitor NRW, 86% of the start-ups surveyed rate the ecosystem in NRW positively. No other federal state is as attractive for sustainable start-ups.

More impressions? The official highlight video of the KNUW group pavilion is available here:

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