Supporting Startups Together

Joint press release from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ports and Transformation, the BIS Bremerhaven Economic Development Agency, and BAB – The Development Bank for Bremen and Bremerhaven, including the Starthaus Bremen & Bremerhaven segment:

On 6 August 2024, an event in the “Make me better” format took place in Bremen for the first time. During the event, two startups that had received BRE-Up startup funding from Bremen presented a current challenge from their companies and used the collective knowledge of the audience for targeted feedback and new solutions. The “Startup Gain Brain: Make me better” event was held at the newly opened John & Will Hotel in the Überseestadt district.

Kristina Vogt, Senator for Economic Affairs, Ports and Transformation, opened the event on-site: “The goal of BRE-Up is to promote the development and implementation of an innovative business idea through comprehensive financial support during the startup phase. The fact that seven startups have received this funding, with twelve more currently under review, shows that interest and demand are high. This new programme also demonstrates that we can provide targeted growth impulses that create and secure jobs.”

“The funding fills a gap and meets the needs of the startups applying for it. We are pleased that with this support, we can further strengthen the startup ecosystem in the state of Bremen. With BRE-Up, we support startups after their foundation during the early years, which are often characterised by rapid growth. This is an important building block, which we supplement with additional advisory and financing programmes,” said Ralf Stapp, Managing Director of BAB.

At the event, the startups Heatrix and Holistic Capital presented their current challenges to benefit from the collective knowledge of the audience:

• Holistic presented a challenge where the audience could offer ideas on how the company, which is very active on social media, could reach the affluent 60+ demographic. The young company continually grapples with how to approach this specific target group in a marketing and advertising way that builds trust, as trust and credibility are important values concerning their product.
• Heatrix brought a very different type of challenge to the audience. This involved a tricky technical question: how a potential creative solution could look to minimise air loss within their product. The young company deliberately wanted to involve a non-specialist audience in this challenge, as the best ideas often arise when interdisciplinary minds and ideas start flowing.

Valuable results were achieved by involving the on-site audience. For Holistic, guests suggested reaching the target audience either through their grandchildren or through their hobbies. Marketing measures in golf or yacht clubs could be successful. For Heatrix’s technical challenge, guests proposed various methods, such as a second casing to reduce heat loss or redirecting incoming cold air.

In addition, Norbert Hegmann, founder and managing director of Tante Enso, and Roland Becker, managing director of Just Add AI, shared their experiences on growth challenges. Having started with the online supermarket myenso, Norbert Hegmann has increasingly focused on brick-and-mortar retail. With Tante Enso, the entrepreneur has now opened nearly 50 cooperatively organised supermarkets in rural areas. Just Add AI provides companies with tailored solutions for using artificial intelligence, and the Just Add AI Group also holds stakes in several startups, spinning off successful products into new companies.

Startups can obtain information about funding at the Starthaus in Bremen as well as at the BIS Bremerhaven Economic Development Agency in Bremerhaven. Nils Schnorrenberger, Managing Director of BIS, says: “It is of great importance to comprehensively support young and highly innovative companies from the early stages to retain them in Bremen. This innovative power will strengthen our future. We encourage every company to get in touch with us personally. Even if BRE-Up startup funding is not the right tool for the planned project, there may be other funding opportunities that can be utilised.”

Read more on the page of the Pressestelle des Senats.