On December 12th, TUMO, the KfW Group, and Starkmacher e.V. signed an agreement to establish a TUMO center in Mannheim, the second TUMO center in Germany. In January 2020, the first TUMO center in Germany initiated TUMO’s long-standing partnership with the KfW Group which continues through the launch of the TUMO center in Mannheim.
During the signing event, TUMO CEO Marie Lou Papazian emphasized, “We are very happy that we can contribute to helping the youth of Mannheim realize their full potential through digital education. Our partners at KfW have a clear vision of the needs of the next generation of young Germans. They have been very effective in demonstrating the TUMO concept and enlisting partners to spread it nationwide.”
The trilateral contract was signed by TUMO’s head of development Pegor Papazian, Head of Innovation of KfW Michael Strauss, and Starkmacher e.V. Co-founders Christian Röser and Nicolas Bosch.
TUMO provides partners with software and content, which they access over the cloud, as well training, technical support, quality assurance, and assistance in setting up and launching new centers. The income received from TUMO’s international network helps augment the operational budget to offer free education to more and more Armenian students in Armenia and Artsakh.
Stefan Wintels, Chief Executive Officer of KfW Group highlighted the fact that “Digital education is a key priority for Germany’s digital advancement. TUMO enables young people to develop their digital skills in line with their interests and thus also pays dividends in strengthening Germany as a technology and industrial location. What makes TUMO special is that free acquisition of digital skills are strengthening equal opportunities and personal responsibility. This benefits our society.”
Co-founder of Starkmacher e.V. Christian Röser stated, “We are really happy to bring the TUMO concept to Mannheim in the metropolitan region of Rhein-Neckar. It’s because I never saw a more precise and outstanding concept of digital learning at the moment, worldwide. And we work a lot with European countries, with worldwide countries. So for us, it’s a big chance. Why? Because this program really focuses on the kids, focuses on the education, and the mission that we have to provide a future to the youth. Bringing TUMO to Mannheim is bringing the future to kids in Mannheim and therefore I am really thankful to the TUMO team.”
The upcoming center in Mannheim, set to open at the Mafinex Tech Center in the third quarter of next year, will have a capacity of 1,000 students, and will adopt the TUMO Berlin experience with ten learning areas: programming, music, robotics, animation, 3D modeling, filmmaking, game development, graphic design, drawing, and photography.
