It is the common notion that big companies are the drivers of economies and creators of jobs. However, more often than not startups and SMEs are the main actors creating ample economic opportunities in their local ecosystems. Berlin is the perfect example. The city has 3000 startups – there is no other German city with as many young companies creating so much job potential. Around 78.000 people are employed in Berlin startups, whereby 19.000 of these jobs were created during the last 2 years. Thereby, supporting early-stage founders is an effective way to support local economic development.
The High-Tech SeedLab
The High-Tech SeedLab supports up to 20 participants to establish their technology startups. The Berlin Senate and the European Social Fund are the main funders of the program running for a period of two years. The first round of support, the 2020 Batch, started in February. The focus is on sustainability and women in tech.
The High-Tech SeedLab team organised a kick-off event to celebrate the start of the 2020 Batch and ensure future peer learning. Each startup pitched their idea to their fellow peers, and a team-building challenge set the stage for collaboration and exchange.
Let’s meet the 2020 Batch!
This year, we selected seven startups with 19 founders for individual support over the next 10 months:
The Start-up | The Problem | The Solution | |
---|---|---|---|
Benoo - Berlin’s first Online Farmers Market | Buying fresh, local, organic produce online. | Platform that connects local farmers and producers with health and environmentally-conscious food lovers. | |
Deora - Creating tools for the next generation of decentralised organisations | Decentralized Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) are based on holacracy rather than hierarchical management and need tools to organise their members and processes. | Open Source applications based on blockchain technology that help DAOs organise themselves. | |
Dodo Laboratory - Teaching children 21st-century skills through transformative gaming | Traditional education systems are not able to sufficiently equip children with the skills and awareness necessary to solve 21st-century challenges. | Transformative online and offline games that help children to think independently. | |
ForSuperHeroes - Better health through scientificly engineered and personalised foods | Many diseases could be prevented or delayed by a healthy diet. | Tailored meal replacement shakes made from natural, unprocessed superfoods. | |
Leaf Labs - Smart receipts that offer benefits for customers, retailers, and the environment | Traditional receipts not only produce large amounts of waste, but they also do not provide possibilities for ongoing customer engagement. | Centralized app that collects all smart receipts and offers insights and engagement opportunities for vendors and customers - while reducing paper waste. | |
Lesan - Translating the internet for the next billion | Online content is not translated for many people in emerging economies. | Machine learning-based translations using online and offline sources. | |
Zero Waste Era - Eliminating the plastic waste of cosmetics and household items through smart refill stations | The amount of plastic created by the cosmetics and household item industry. | Natural products delivered and re-filled in smart, zero waste containers. |
Welcome to our participants – we can’t wait to see you learn, iterate, and grow!
Are you interested in learning more about our startups or have ideas for collaborations? Contact us at [email protected].
You are a startup in the making and wonder how you could become part of such a wonderful peer group? Learn more about our program and upcoming application deadlines here.