
Generation Steinbeis
Progressive thinking and a pioneering, innovative spirit have shaped Generation Steinbeis for over 150 years. In the early 19th century, Ferdinand and Otto von Steinbeis set the foundations for a modern industry, for modern training and for a value-oriented way of doing business. In the 20th century, the company became known especially for its forms. It developed self-adhesive labels and revolutionised the resource-intensive paper industry. The Steinbeis Foundation and Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer continue Generation Steinbeis’ commitment to science and business development.
Steinbeis brand businesses
Entrepreneurship is in the genes of Generation Steinbeis. But it’s also the inspiration behind some unusual business models, such as Steinbeis Holding GmbH, the Steinbeis Foundation for Economic Development, and Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer.
Steinbeis Holding GmbH
Sustainability is the industrial value of the future. A nation’s economy is safeguarded by the efficient use of resources and energy, and this promotes biodiversity. In its investment activities, Steinbeis Holding focuses on businesses in the industrial sectors of energy, ecological paper production, plastics recycling, and the circular economy. It’s an investment strategy shaped by the entrepreneur family Steinbeis’ understanding of idiosyncratic values. Our current portfolio expansion is oriented specifically towards the lead markets of environmental technology.
Industry portfolio
Steinbeis Foundation and Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer
The non-profit Steinbeis Foundation for Economic Development (founded in 1971) encompasses the Steinbeis network of more than 1,000 companies offering cross-industry research and development, consulting and expertise to strengthen competitiveness and create value, as well as competence-based education and training. The Foundation promotes knowledge and technology transfer with a wide range of activities. Responsible for all its economic activities is the subsidiary Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer, which was founded in 1998. Around 6,000 experts contribute their expertise to a practical transfer between science and business.
The Steinbeis Foundation and Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer form a brand unit and are independent of Steinbeis Holding GmbH, which fulfils the mandate of a family office with an investment focus on sustainability-oriented businesses.
Service portfolio
Key members of Generation Steinbeis

Family progenitor, economic politician and member of the Württemberg parliament, it was he who gave his name to the Steinbeis Foundation as well as various universities, schools and vocational training centres. Father of Germany’s duale Ausbildung training system.

Founder and pioneer of generations of entrepreneurs in the timber and forestry industry and in wood processing, from which businesses in the paper industry and paper processing later emerged. Planner and builder of the first rack railway on the Wendelstein (1912).