iL-CURRENT
January 8, 2026
Michael Kröger: "2026 – The future
is created through cooperation"
After a year full of significant milestones, technological advances, and growing resonance in 2025, InnovationLab and its spin-off FLEXOO are looking ahead. 2026 will be marked by scaling, new partnerships, and the ambition to deliver concrete solutions, especially in a crisis-ridden environment—from cancer diagnostics and precision medicine to clean tech and physical AI. In our interview, Dr. Michael Kröger, Managing Director of iL and FLEXOO, explains why the coming months will be decisive, how innovation can succeed even under difficult conditions, and what role networked ecosystems play in this.
Mr. Kröger, what were 2025 from your perspective the most highlights and milestones for InnovationLab?
Michael Kröger: The highlights in my iL calendar are definitely the flagship events LIFE SCIENCE TECH DAY and CLEAN TECH INNOVATION DAY & SOLAR TAP INDUSTRY DAY. These are days that the entire team focuses on preparing for weeks in advance and where we have received a fantastic response from speakers and participants. This makes me all the more pleased because success here can not only be measured, but also felt within the team. Sustainable highlights that have an impact every day are the establishment of new junior research groups at Heidelberg University, in particular the POEM project led by Dr. Ramsay Najim (in collaboration with DKFZ and the University Medical Center) and the working groups of Dr. Simon Binder and Dr. Murat Karabas from KIT. These create real added value through additional opportunities for cooperation for established scientists and working groups, for example those of Prof. Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa, Prof. Christine Selhuber-Unkel, and Prof. Yasmin Aghassi. In addition, we have been able to attract further industry partners and start-ups to the location.
FLEXOO: Really getting down to business
And for FLEXOO?
Kröger: FLEXOO has made bold progress and, by 2025, has become a major technology provider in the field of battery storage systems. Leading manufacturers from Asia and the US have validated FLEXOO sensor systems for greater safety and cost efficiency, and all teams at FLEXOO have worked hard to establish FLEXOO in the market and even win international awards. The technology team has developed the most reliable and accurate flexible sensors available worldwide, the operations team has scaled them up to roll-to-roll mass production in record time, and marketing and sales ensure every day that international customers find us and trust our sensors. A lot of blood, sweat, and enthusiasm has gone into this. At the same time, this is only the tip of the iceberg of enormous potential. But it's fun to watch that tip grow every day.
iL‒ and FLEXOO‒managing director Dr. Michael Kröger is optimistic about the future: " I can see how the new space meets our goal of being a platform for networked collaboration." Image: Lukas Adler
What developments or whatever events have 2025 particularly characterized – externally and internally?
Kröger: From the InnovationLab's perspective, the move to the fourth floor is certainly a sustainable development. The reason for the move was that we needed to make room for new partners, so we opened up additional office and co-working spaces on the fourth floor. I can see how the new spaces meet our goal of being a platform for networked collaboration. This is a positive change that I notice every day and that is also reflected every day. An increase in uncertainty in the economic and political environment certainly also plays a role in the key developments and events. A poor overall economic situation, uncertainty and indecisiveness in politics, and increasing polarization—both globally and nationally—are changing the conditions under which we create innovation. Ultimately, however, this is a market environment that everyone has to deal with. And we accept it and master it in order to offer solutions in a crisis-ridden environment. That's why our partners value us! For me, this is the only way forward.
Speaking of moving forward, speaking of opportunities for 2026: Where is can here the lever for a promising future ?
Kröger: Finding opportunities in the crisis and providing solutions. We sense friction, both economically and socially. Here, we offer a place where innovation can be implemented more cost-effectively, more quickly, and with less risk, while at the same time providing an experience of collaboration. For InnovationLab, this means that we will bring new and strong partners together with our existing partners in order to make faster and quicker progress in the field of novel technologies for cancer diagnosis and therapy, and to make "clean tech" more cost-effective so that it beats fossil fuel systems and we gain more independence and resilience in energy supply and basic industry.
For FLEXOO, 2026 is precisely the year in which cost-effective "ubiquitous sensor technology" can be used to implement "physical AI" applications: in batteries, in production facilities, in automation. All of these areas require more than just sensors. They need a central nervous system that delivers not just measurement data, but qualified information to control systems. We are already seeing how the topic of humanoid robotics is very much in the spotlight at CES at the start of the year. This year and the coming year will be decisive—and that is where champions will be made. My ambition and our work are fully focused on ensuring that FLEXOO will be there.
Better conditions for start-ups
How would you the status quo of cooperation with the partners from science, start-upsups and industry characterize?
Kröger: On the surface, stagnating or shrinking funds for external cooperation in the economy mean tighter constraints and less room for maneuver in public research funding, as well as a difficult market environment for large companies to invest in innovation and for start-ups to find investors. We see this particularly in our cooperation with large companies, which are currently taking a very cautious approach. In science, I see a major driver and motivation to transfer scientific excellence into innovation and economic application. When large companies withdraw more strongly from early-stage innovation, scientists become more interested and ambitious in founding start-ups and seek out hubs for cooperation in order to make faster progress. We cooperate with several partners at events, but also informally, such as bioRN, NXTGN, or PALATINA Business Angels Rhein-Neckar, to offer start-ups in Heidelberg and the metropolitan region even better conditions and to be further ahead in terms of the number and quality of start-ups.
Which influence do new technologies and trends on the technology transferplatform iL?
Kröger: New technology has to prove itself in practice. Depending on the environment, such implementation can take 15 years, or it may become clear in a shorter period of time whether it is a hit or a miss. That is why it is important for InnovationLab to constantly evolve. InnovationLab is not about owning technologies, but about offering its partners a platform where new technologies can be quickly developed and validated. InnovationLab focuses on areas where new solutions are urgently needed and where sustained effort is required to develop, validate, and scale the right technologies. However, these are often complex and complicated to implement and require multiple technological and commercial partners. We see one such field in high-throughput drug research, known as precision medicine. The technologies our partners are focusing on are organoids and organ-on-chip technologies—new materials, new components and processes, and extensive use of artificial intelligence to make oncology more accurate and cost-effective, for example. The goal is to develop new tools in the fight against cancer. I believe this is undoubtedly an important goal and a motivating task.
Networking expert par excellence: Michael Kröger with participants at CLEAN TECH INNOVATION DAY & SOLAR TAP INDUSTRY DAY on October 15, 2025, at the Heidelberg Congress Center. Image: Lukas Adler
Actively shaping change
And which unique selling point does FLEXOO as specialist in matters flexible sensors?
Kröger: There is no other company in this field that offers such a high-performance complete solution consisting of flexible printed sensors, electronics as an interface, and software on the market. By high-performance, I mean, on the one hand, the accuracy and reliability of the sensors, for example, our Prime Mode sensors, and, on the other hand, the variability of accommodating different parameters such as pressure, temperature, humidity, gas detection, etc. on a single platform solution. In addition, the team filed 15 inventions for registration last year alone, so the technological lead is still growing. FLEXOO is now scaling up and has transferred the product technology to extremely competitive roll-to-roll production.
Bigger and more holistic thought: What hopes and expectations do you for the future? of innovation ecosystem in the Metropolitan Region – and what role can here play play
Kröger: Baden-Württemberg and the metropolitan region are undergoing radical change. Traditional industries and technologies are under pressure, such as the chemical industry, or will disappear, such as cars with combustion engines. We must actively shape this change and not cling to old certainties and habits if we want to maintain our prosperity and strengthen social cohesion again. A spirit of innovation and enthusiasm arises when scientific knowledge is transferred into practical application. In the metropolitan region, we have an enormous density and short distances. New technologies must serve people—including those in the metropolitan region—and solve problems. InnovationLab helps to build solutions from findings and scale them up. Our new direction brings together scientists, doctors, engineers, and entrepreneurs, especially at the interface between materials, medicine, and AI, to develop solutions to problems and then ultimately market them. In doing so, we build on what we have learned and proven in the field of innovation management and technology transfer in more than 15 years, but we see ourselves fundamentally as part of a strong ecosystem with competent partners and institutions. The future is created through collaboration.
Last question: What exactly would you yourself from the politics of Merzgovernment in Berlin wish to the German economy back back back ?
Kröger: 2026 is a new opportunity to do everything right. To make decisions. Every day. For the good of the country and its people. Any government that does this and does not allow itself to be driven by populism, opportunism, and fear of loss is doing everything right.
Michael Kröger's wish for 2026 to Germany's political leaders is that decisions be made for the good of the country and its people, while populism, opportunism, and fear of loss should play no role. Image: Lukas Adler
Joachim Klaehn
Communications
This website is not part of the Facebook website or Facebook Inc. Furthermore, this website is in no way endorsed by Facebook. Facebook is a brand of Facebook, Inc. We use Google remarketing pixels/cookies on this website to re-communicate with visitors to our website and ensure that we can reach them with relevant messages and information in the future. Google places our ads on third party websites on the internet to communicate our message and reach the right people who have shown interest in our information in the past.