BTU: Using Digital Twins to Start a Business

With Machinespace, Jannis Werner and his business partner and longtime friend Björn Hansen provide machine manufacturers with digital twins that consolidate technical knowledge in a machine-centric manner directly within the 3D model and make it accessible via AI-powered machine agents. Building on this, international sales and service throughout a machine’s entire lifecycle are automated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in the end customers’ native languages. This is possible on any device—whether a PC, laptop, smartphone, or directly on the machine. 

“Nowadays, it’s no longer enough for machine manufacturers to simply sell the machine,” explains Jannis Werner. “Digital business models enable new revenue streams for the manufacturer while simultaneously reducing costs for the operator—a factor that often determines whether a machine is purchased or not.”&

The startup founders are receiving a boost from the new EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 and ISO 9001:2026, which place a particular focus on knowledge management.  

Federal Funding for a New Digital Business Model with a Future

Jannis Werner is 27 years old. Born in Forst and raised in Cottbus, he studied mechanical engineering as a bachelor’s student at the BTU’s main campus in Cottbus. Even while he was a student, he pursued several startup projects. In the process, his interest in the intersection of mechanical engineering and computer science grew, as did his interest in sales and business management. 

After graduating, he co-founded the startup Machinespace with Björn Hansen in Düsseldorf in May 2026, right next to their first pilot customers, in order to further develop the software based on feedback from the industry. As early as August of this year, they secured a customer—a machine manufacturer in Saxony—whose machines are also used at the BTU. The first projects with companies from Lusatia and Berlin are currently getting underway. 

Immediately after graduating, Jannis Werner also applied for the exist startup grant, which he has been receiving since May 2026 to support his innovative startup idea. For one year, the fellowship covers his living expenses and allows him to invest in building out Machinespace’s server infrastructure in both Düsseldorf and Cottbus, where Jannis Werner is affiliated with the BTU through a fellowship agreement. The young company is growing out of two hubs: the Ruhr region and Lusatia. 

Business partner Björn Hansen brings two decades of professional experience in series and custom machine manufacturing and most recently served as a business unit manager. Within the Machinespace team, thanks to his extensive expertise in industrial 3D data, he is primarily responsible for the graphical user interface (front-end development) and the automated processing and conversion of highly complex CAD data.

“I, on the other hand, focus on training and fine-tuning machine-specific AI models (backend development),” Jannis Werner continues. “Basically, I’m picking up right where I left off with my thesis—developing generative and predictive AI systems for mechanical engineering.”

The project at BTU is supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ingo Schmitt, holder of the Chair of Database and Information Systems, as an academic mentor, and by the university’s startup service under the project leadership of Dr. Viktor Zakar.

New Team Members Warmly Welcomed

The startup Machinespace offers technically skilled individuals the opportunity to contribute to the project and gain valuable hands-on experience. “We’re generally looking for students and alumni from all STEM fields,” emphasizes Jannis Werner, “particularly artificial intelligence, computer science, and mathematics—as interns, working students, and founding engineers. Theses are, of course, also possible.”

Contact

Jannis Werner
wernejan(at)b-tu.de
T +49 211 92326822
https://machinespace.ai/ 

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Related Links

👉 www.b-tu.de  

Photo: Machinespace, Björn Hansen