Innovation at Dorfner:
Mining Values from Ideas
For us, innovation is more than just invention. It is attitude. At Dorfner, we believe in the power of good ideas – and that they only really make a difference when people boldly put them into practice.
For us, innovation does not begin in the laboratory or in the business plan, but with an attitude: staying curious, thinking ahead, taking responsibility.
We have been following this principle for 130 years. As a family business with roots in mining, we have reinvented ourselves time and again – through our own efforts, together with partners and on the basis of real challenges. This attitude still characterizes us today.
We call this the Dorfner effect: a culture of curiosity, implementation power and partnership at eye level – in the laboratory, in the factory, in the market and in completely new business areas.
Because we are convinced that the best innovations do not come about by chance, but when the right people come together.
Innovation in four horizons
- with one goal: shaping the future.
We take a holistic approach to innovation – from process optimization to the development of radically new business models.
We are strengthening our innovative power in our core business through new processes, materials and technologies for the production of high-quality primary products.
We rethink products – real innovations are created from refined raw materials.
We are transforming our development and data expertise into new growth areas.
We accelerate start-ups with capital, know-how and direct access to the industry
We are strengthening our innovative power in our core business through new processes, materials and technologies for the production of high-quality primary products.
We rethink products – real innovations are created from refined raw materials.
We are transforming our development and data expertise into new growth areas.
We accelerate start-ups with capital, know-how and direct access to the industry
Start-ups welcome:
our Venture Studio
With our SiO2 Ventures GmbH Venture Studio, we offer founders, start-ups and entrepreneurial teams the perfect breeding ground for sustainable industrial start-ups:
You bring the entrepreneurial mindset. We provide the industrial foundation.
Our goal:
Promoting long-term innovations and ventures in sustainable industries.
Whether as an internal innovator, start-up team, founder or research partner: If you want to take on responsibility to bring your idea to the streets with impact, you’ve come to the right place.
We offer you:
Let's create value from ideas together!
Mining Values from Ideas is more than just a claim. It is our promise. We shape the future with responsibility. With knowledge. And with courage. Together with you. Because for us, all you have to do is bring the right people together.
At Dorfner, we are building a strong ecosystem for the challenges of the future through close cooperation with universities and research institutes. Together, we develop innovative solutions and promote the exchange of knowledge for a sustainable future.
Future meets experience.
As part of the UnternehmerTUM network – Europe’s leading center for innovation and start-ups – Dorfner brings together industrial expertise and innovative strength. In our Dorfner Venture Studio, we use this strong network to develop solutions for real challenges in the industrial and construction sectors. With over 125 years of experience in the processing of high-quality industrial minerals, we are actively shaping change – technology-driven, practical and future-oriented.
Regional cooperation that shapes the future
As a partner of the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden, we combine our industrial experience with the university’s technological and sustainability-oriented research priorities. In joint projects, we promote practical innovation – from material development to digitalization. The close regional connection and direct exchange with students and scientists create a strong basis for solutions that work.
From idea to implementation: cooperation with OTH Regensburg
OTH Regensburg is one of the strongest research universities for applied sciences in Bavaria. In cooperation with Dorfner, practical innovation projects are created – for example on the application of AI in HR or process optimization in industry. We value the technical depth, the transfer concept and the entrepreneurial spirit of the university – and together we bring ideas from research into application.
Innovation and start-up center
TechBase Regensburg GmbH is a company of the City of Regensburg. The aim of TechBase is to promote innovative start-ups, projects, networks and companies in promising technology sectors. Dorfner is looking forward to actively promoting innovative ideas, expanding networks and shaping the future together on the created platform of an innovation and start-up center.
Dipl.-Ing. Reinhard Kräuter
Head of Corporate Development
Phone: +49 (0) 96 22/82-184
E-mail: reinhard.kraeuter@dorfner.com
Tim Lüken
Head of Innovation
Phone: +49 175 9355 002
E-mail: tim.lueken@dorfner.com
Alexander Carlsson
SiO2 Ventures GmbH
Phone: +49 151 67202082
E-mail: ac@sio2-ventures.com
Gebrüder Dorfner GmbH & Co. KG
A company of the Dorfner Group
Scharhof 1, D-92242 Hirschau
© Germany 2025
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