Berlin Politicians and business representatives repeatedly emphasize the importance of people with a migration background for Germany as a business location. Nevertheless, people from abroad do not have it easy in Germany when it comes to founding a company. Bureaucracy and the lack of a network are the main reasons, according to the Migrant Founders Monitor 2022.
The Vision Lab, an initiative by Handelsblatt, the venture capitalist Earlybird and the management consultancy Bain, aims to change that: The initiative promotes entrepreneurial ideas from migrants through mentoring, workshops and funding. Last Thursday, the founders presented their ideas to the mentors and investors.
“Germany needs impulses from people from abroad,” said former Lanxess digital boss Jörg Hellwig. “Not only do we help them build a business, they bring our own problems to our attention, such as bureaucracy and the slowness of administration.”
Hendrik Brandis, co-founder and partner of Earlybird, added: “The motivation for starting the initiative was initially charity.” But it quickly became apparent that the founders developed scalable business models that promote Germany as a business location.
These companies aroused particular interest among investors and start-up experts:
eKidz: Learn languages through play
In the current school year, the proportion of foreign students at German elementary schools is 15.5 percent, at night schools it is even almost 60 percent, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office. Lots of young people learning German as a foreign language. For them, Nataliya Tetruyeva developed eKidz, a language learning app based on artificial intelligence (AI).
Her vision: to teach children the German language and how to read in the classroom and after school through playful exercises. Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently highlighted the influence of AI in education. In the next five to 10 years, AI-driven software will “deliver on the promise of revolutionizing the way people teach and learn,” he said.
With their AI-supported app, children should learn German in a playful way.
(Photo: eKidz)
When Tetruyeva came to Germany from the Ukraine with her children ten years ago, it was difficult to learn German systematically, the founder reported. Therefore, she now wants to help children to participate in school lessons despite the language barrier. The AI adapts the content of the exercises to the learning progress.
In order for her project to be successful, the teachers need technological competence and sufficient electronic devices in the classroom, said Tetruyeva – topics where Germany currently still has deficits. Precisely because some German schools still work very analogously, their program in this country has particular potential, explained the founder. “If I can make it in Germany, I can make it anywhere.”
Discussions with the education ministries of the federal states were successful. Those responsible have recognized the need to provide children with individual support that goes beyond traditional school lessons.
Her company earns money through annual licenses, which she sells to schools and school boards. Tetruyeva reported that a central budget for digital content is also being made available more and more frequently by the Ministry of Education.
Alexander Weihe, head of innovation at the real estate group Vonovia and mentor of the Vision Lab, emphasized the importance of companies like eKidz in digitization. You also need companies that not only focus on the digital infrastructure, but also offer content and software.
Repair Rebels: digital platform for fashion repair
With her start-up Repair Rebels, Monika Hauck wants to create awareness of the consumption of clothes and an alternative to the throwaway culture. The company is a digital repair service that connects people who want to have a piece of clothing repaired with the appropriate service providers. Everything is managed via one platform, from payment to collection of the garments.
“Recycling is a virulent topic worldwide,” said Frank Dopheide, Managing Director of the management consultancy Human Unlimited. Repair Rebels meets the zeitgeist. Repairing clothes is “no longer a poor man’s issue”, because sustainability is becoming a question of image – on the part of consumers and producers alike. The narrative has changed: “Anyone who recycles is doing something good for the environment,” said Dopheide.
Repairing clothes is “no longer an issue for poor people” because sustainability is becoming a question of image, says management consultant Frank Dopheide about the company.
(Photo: Repair Rebels)
It is no coincidence that Repair Rebels is also looking at the luxury segment. Repairing clothing in the luxury segment is not just a question of sustainability. The value of clothing and handbags from high-priced brands such as Chanel sometimes increases over time. The possibility of repair ensures the intrinsic value. What’s more, in some areas of the luxury market, repaired and thus individualized items of clothing are even worth more than new ones.
Hauck founded her company from her own savings and with support from the Visa Foundation. The founder, who comes from Lithuania, has been in talks with investors since the presentation on Thursday.
Blipstream: More transparency in the supermarket
The Berlin start-up Blipstream analyzes customer flows in the supermarket. The software helps shopkeepers reduce queues at the checkout and anonymously shows which areas of the supermarket are frequented or avoided. By analyzing the checkout area, it should also prevent theft.
Data on shopping behavior is already being collected, says Blipstream boss Jake Manning, who comes from Australia. “But so far, 99 percent of retail data isn’t being used.”
The software was in demand, especially in times of strict contact and distance rules during the corona pandemic: The number of market visitors could be checked with a digital counter and infrared technology. Customers were informed by traffic lights at the entrance whether they were allowed to enter or whether the maximum number of shoppers had been reached.
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Lars Dingemann, patron of the Vision Lab and partner at Bain, is convinced of the vision of the Australian-Latvian founding team: “Based on the existing video surveillance infrastructure, retailers and consumer goods brands should be granted measurable, data protection-compliant insights into customer behavior in the offline world, which has so far been largely invisible,” says he.
155,000 shops in Germany are already using the technology, including the supermarket chains Edeka and Rewe and the drugstore chain Budni. Blipstream achieves sales with license income.
More women than men
Almost all founders consider the German bureaucracy to be the main reason why migrants are underrepresented in business start-ups.
The initiative shows another phenomenon: In Germany, the proportion of women in company start-ups last year was only 20 percent. In the Vision Lab, on the other hand, the founders and female CEOs make up more than 50 percent. “Germany can learn from this,” said Earlybird partner Brandis.
More: Few role models, many prejudices: these are the problems of migrants in the start-up world