Crea­ting solu­ti­ons for a world of crises

Impact Start­up pro­gram to respond to the effects of the war against Ukraine

Impact star­tups play a key role in addres­sing the various, con­stant­ly chan­ging cri­ses and chal­lenges we face in society. 

PHINEO Star­tups seeks to con­tri­bu­te to this by edu­ca­ting and equip­ping a new genera­ti­on of com­mit­ted foun­ders with the necessa­ry exper­ti­se and skills. We aim to empower them in their jour­ney towards achie­ving a grea­ter impact in addi­ti­on to a finan­cial return.

Who are we loo­king for:

  • Do you have an inno­va­ti­ve solu­ti­on and approa­ch to the effects of the war against Ukraine?
  • Are you a non-pro­­­fit and for-pro­­­fit star­tup with strong entre­pre­neu­ri­al spi­rit and an impact-ori­en­­ted mindset? 
  • Are you a team con­sis­ting of at least two foun­ders and are based in Berlin? 
  • Do you have an almost finis­hed pro­to­ty­pe that you can test or an exis­ting start­up that you want to bring to a new level?

App­li­ca­ti­ons for Ukrai­ne Respon­se Cohort 2 are open now!

Click here to app­ly on F6S …

We are now taking app­li­ca­ti­ons for the second cohort of the Ukrai­ne Respon­se Pro­gram star­ting in June 2023. App­li­ca­ti­ons are open until 16th April 2023.

We will review app­li­ca­ti­ons and select start­up teams on an ongo­ing basis – so bet­ter app­ly ear­lier than later!

Time­li­ne

Meet us and the teams of the first cohort at our Q&A sessions. We will host 3 Q&A sessions: on 22nd February, 9th March and 22nd March.

Why you should take part

You can bene­fit from a tailo­red pro­gram with a needs-ori­en­ted cur­ri­cu­lum along seven elements:

  • Coa­ching: A dedi­ca­ted PHINEO Star­tups coach gui­des you through the pro­gram, cus­to­mi­zes it to your needs and hel­ps you build your startup.
  • Mas­ter­clas­ses: The­re will be a wee­kly trai­ning offer with work­shops aimed at addres­sing your needs and gaps and inten­ded to sup­port the acce­le­ra­ti­on of your development.
  • Men­to­ring by lea­ding experts: An expe­ri­en­ced men­tor will stand rea­dy to offer their exper­ti­se in wee­kly men­to­ring sessions.
  • Events: We offer dif­fe­rent types of events, e.g., com­mu­ni­ty events, pit­ching oppor­tu­nities, net­wor­king oppor­tu­nities & a final event and con­nect you with key players.
  • Co-working: Joint co-working is offe­red at bUm, a com­mu­ni­ty works­pace to work, meet, learn and impro­ve the world tog­e­ther. You can be part of this com­mu­ni­ty and have a space assi­gned in its pre­mi­ses. You will gain access to a place desi­gned to boost crea­ti­vi­ty and obtain public attention.
  • Peer-to-peer-Coa­ching & com­mu­ni­ty buil­ding: We encou­ra­ge and faci­li­ta­te lear­ning and com­mu­ni­ty-buil­ding oppor­tu­nities among you and your peers.
  • Net­work: PHINEO is one of the pioneers of impact inves­ting in Ger­ma­ny. We com­bi­ne impact and finan­cial know-how in one team. The­re­fo­re, we can help you finan­ce your pro­ject and pro­vi­de access to a net­work of impact inves­tors. In addi­ti­on, we sup­port you with our com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on to our broad net­work of dif­fe­rent sec­tor part­ners and one of the lar­gest Impact Inves­ting and Social Entre­pre­neurs­hip net­works in Germany.

Click here to app­ly on F6S …

Mile­stones and best prac­ti­ces from our Ukrai­ne Respon­se Cohort 1

What we have achie­ved so far:

  • 55+ start-up app­li­ca­ti­ons for first program
  • 10 star­tups – most of them with Ukrai­ni­an foun­ders – are par­ti­ci­pa­ting in a 6‑months incu­ba­tor pro­gram in Ber­lin from 11/2022 to 04/2023
  • 20+ acti­ve pro­gram par­ti­ci­pants – 77% of which are female
  • 10 dedi­ca­ted start­up men­tors with start­up or manage­ment expe­ri­ence in the impact sector
  • Con­ti­nuous streng­t­he­ning of the impact com­mu­ni­ty tog­e­ther with bUm, e.g. win­ter fes­ti­val with 70+ participants
  • Check out our Lin­kedIn chan­nel for more infor­ma­ti­on on the pro­gram and fol­low us to keep up to date with the app­li­ca­ti­on pro­cess and the cur­rent cohort!
Die Teilnehmer*innen des ersten Startup-Durchgangs

Selection of mentors and supporters

FAQs

Who can apply?
  • Sta­ge: Star­tups in all sta­ges (ear­ly or later stage)
  • Busi­ness model: Non-pro­fit as well as for-pro­fit orga­niz­a­ti­ons can apply
  • Solu­ti­on: PHINEO aims to sup­port star­tups that are deve­lo­ping solu­ti­ons in respon­se to the effects of the war against Ukrai­ne. The issu­es addres­sed can ran­ge from refu­gee cri­sis, recon­struc­tion, food inse­cu­ri­ty and ener­gy sup­ply to health and legal issu­es among others.
  • Team: Your team con­sists of at least two foun­ders. You are based in Ber­lin, as the­re is whe­re the pro­gram takes place. Sin­ce the pro­gram addres­ses the effects of war against Ukrai­ne, app­li­ca­ti­ons from teams with Ukrai­ni­an par­ti­ci­pants are preferred.
Why should I apply?
The spe­cial fea­ture of the pro­gram is cer­tain­ly PHINE­Os net­work and exper­ti­se in impact inves­ting, a com­mu­ni­ty of busi­nes­ses, foun­da­ti­ons, inves­tors, NGOs and govern­men­tal orga­niz­a­ti­ons, as well as the inno­va­ti­ve co-working space at bUm, a com­mu­ni­ty space for non­pro­fit orga­niz­a­ti­ons and activists.
How can I bene­fit from par­ti­ci­pa­ting in PHINEO’s Impact Star­tups program?

You can bene­fit from a tailo­red pro­gram with a needs-ori­en­ted cur­ri­cu­lum along seven elements: 

  • Coa­ching: A dedi­ca­ted PHINEO Star­tups coach gui­des you through the pro­gram, cus­to­mi­zes it to your needs and hel­ps you build your startup.
  • Mas­ter­clas­ses: The­re will be a wee­kly trai­ning offer with work­shops aimed at addres­sing your needs and gaps and inten­ded to sup­port the acce­le­ra­ti­on of your development.
  • Men­to­ring by lea­ding experts: An expe­ri­en­ced men­tor will stand rea­dy to offer their exper­ti­se in wee­kly men­to­ring sessions.
  • Events: We offer dif­fe­rent types of events, e.g., com­mu­ni­ty events, pit­ching oppor­tu­nities, net­wor­king oppor­tu­nities & a final event and con­nect you with key players.
  • Co-wir­king: Joint co-working ist offe­red at bUm, a com­mu­ni­ty works­pace to work, meet, learn and impro­ve the world tog­e­ther. You can be part of this com­mu­ni­ty and have a space assi­gned in its pre­mi­ses. You will gain access to a place desi­gned to boost crea­ti­vi­ty and obtain public attention.
  • Peer-to-peer-Coa­ching & com­mu­ni­ty buil­ding: We encou­ra­ge and faci­li­ta­te lear­ning and com­mu­ni­ty-buil­ding oppor­tu­nities among you and your peers.
  • Net­work: PHINEO is one of the pioneers of impact inves­ting in Ger­ma­ny. We com­bi­ne impact and finan­cial know-how in one team. The­re­fo­re, we can help you finan­ce your pro­ject and pro­vi­de access to a net­work of impact inves­tors. In addi­ti­on, we sup­port you with our com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on to our broad net­work of dif­fe­rent sec­tor part­ners and one of the lar­gest Impact Inves­ting and Social Entre­pre­neurs­hip net­works in Germany.
How much time are the selec­ted star­tups expec­ted to devo­te to the program?

The pro­gram is part-time and has a dura­ti­on of six mon­ths (Cohort 2: from 5th June until 29th Novem­ber 2023). The selec­ted teams can dis­tri­bu­te their time accord­ing to their sche­du­le. The pro­gram ele­ments will be allo­ca­ted in a con­ve­ni­ent way to meet the needs and gaps of the par­ti­ci­pa­ting teams. It is pos­si­ble to par­ti­ci­pa­te and/​​or app­ly to other pro­grams in par­al­lel to our program.

How and when to apply?
App­li­ca­ti­ons for Ukrai­ne Respon­se Cohort 2 will be open from 1st of Febru­a­ry until 15th April 2023. We will review app­li­ca­ti­ons and accept start­up teams on an ongo­ing basis – so bet­ter app­ly ear­lier than later!
How does the app­li­ca­ti­on pro­cess look like? What is F6S?
You will be asked to upload a pitch deck and descri­be your solu­ti­on and its rela­ti­on to the war against Ukrai­ne. Fur­ther­mo­re, it will be necessa­ry to pro­vi­de two short vide­os on your idea and team. Our expert com­mit­tee will eva­lua­te all app­li­ca­ti­ons based on a pre­de­fi­ned set of admis­si­on cri­te­ria. Your data will be trea­ted with utmost care. 

We use the exter­nal por­tal F6S for the app­li­ca­ti­ons. You will have to crea­te an account or log­in with Lin­kedIn or Face­book to sub­mit your application.
Does the pro­gram offer finan­cial support?

The pro­gram does not offer finan­cial sup­port at this time. Howe­ver, PHINEO is hap­py to make avail­ab­le its wide net­work of com­pa­nies, foun­ders and inves­tors, foun­da­ti­ons and other rele­vant sta­ke­hol­ders from civil socie­ty, as well as govern­men­tal orga­niz­a­ti­ons, in order to help you mate­ria­li­ze your ide­as and find poten­ti­al partners. 

I need assi­s­tance with the app­li­ca­ti­on plat­form. Who can I reach out to?

If you encoun­ter any tech­ni­cal or other dif­fi­cul­ties while sub­mit­ting your online app­li­ca­ti­on, plea­se feel free to reach out to us (see our con­ta­ct at the bot­tom of this page). Some com­mon dif­fi­cul­ties could ari­se when uploading files or when being unsu­re about what to ans­wer to a spe­ci­fic ques­ti­on, among others. We are hap­py to assist you in all mat­ters rela­ted to the program. 

How many star­tups will be selected?
Up to 10 star­tups will be accep­ted into the program.
Do I need a co-foun­der for my app­li­ca­ti­on to be considered?

We advice you to have a co-foun­der befo­re app­ly­ing for the pro­gram. If you do not have a co-foun­der at this sta­ge, we are hap­py to sup­port you in fin­ding a matching partner.

Does the pro­gram requi­re phy­si­cal attendance?

A gre­at value of the pro­gram is the pro­found exchan­ge bet­ween experts and star­tups, as well as the varie­ty of net­wor­king oppor­tu­nities bet­ween the par­ti­ci­pa­ting star­tups. That is why phy­si­cal pre­sence in Ber­lin is pre­fer­red. Howe­ver, we are awa­re of the geo­gra­phic cons­traints facing some of the app­li­cants. Thus, if you are plan­ning on part­ne­ring up with someo­ne who is neit­her based nor able to relo­ca­te to Ber­lin, plea­se reach out to us direct­ly to dis­cuss the pro­spects of a remo­te collaboration.

Is pre­vious expe­ri­ence in the start­up eco­sys­tem requi­red to app­ly for the program?
If you are new to or are plan­ning to ven­ture into on the start­up eco­sys­tem, you are also encou­ra­ged to app­ly for the pro­gram. We are hap­py to pro­vi­de you with sup­port also in the ear­ly sta­ges of your idea. For this, plea­se prio­ri­ti­ze your ques­ti­ons and feel free to reach out to us.
Do I have to pay for par­ti­ci­pa­ting in the program?
No, the PHINEO Impact Start­up Pro­gram is free-of-charge.
Will PHINEO Impact Start­up Pro­gram take equi­ty or opti­ons from my com­pa­ny if I par­ti­ci­pa­te in the program?

We do not take any equi­ty from our par­ti­ci­pa­ting star­tups. Our goal is to sup­port social entre­pre­neurs­hip as it plays a key role in addres­sing the various, con­stant­ly chan­ging cri­ses and chal­len­ges we face in society.

How can I per­so­nal­ly talk to the PHINEO Star­tups team about the program?

We will host 3 Q&A sessions: on 22nd February, 9th March and 22nd March.

The first and third session will be in person at bUm. We will host a pitch event starting at 12:30 with our current cohort, followed by a Q&A session with the applicatants for the second cohort starting at 4. You are most welcome to come at 12:30 already to watch the pitches of our teams and get their insights and experience on the program.

The second session will be held online.

The cur­rent challenge

Russia’s attack on Ukrai­ne in Febru­a­ry 2022 and the acts of vio­lence have chan­ged the world. The vio­lence has upen­ded the lives of mil­li­ons of Ukrai­ni­ans, lea­ding to food inse­cu­ri­ty, an ener­gy cri­sis and much more.

As a part of our Impact Start­up Pro­gram, you will get sup­port to design your idea or sca­le your non-pro­fit or for-pro­fit start­up. We are open to many topics as long as they crea­te impact. The­re­fo­re the issu­es ran­ge from refu­gee cri­sis, recon­struc­tion, food inse­cu­ri­ty and ener­gy sup­ply to health and legal issu­es and among others.

We also sup­port dis­pla­ced Ukrai­ni­an women who seek to estab­lish a new livelihood.

About us

Impact star­tups plays a key role in addres­sing the various, con­stant­ly chan­ging cri­ses and chal­len­ges we face in socie­ty. This chan­ging natu­re also requi­res new busi­ness models and approa­ches to streng­t­hen the resi­li­en­ce of our socio-eco­lo­gi­cal sys­tem and make our world more liv­a­ble and sustainable. 

PHINEO Star­tups runs incu­ba­tor and acce­le­ra­tor pro­grams to sup­port impact star­tups in col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with part­ners from all three sec­tors. We sup­port the deve­lo­p­ment of solu­ti­ons to long-term cri­ses wit­hin the 17 Sus­tainab­le Deve­lo­p­ment Goals (SDGs). At the same time, we favour the deve­lo­p­ment of quick solu­ti­ons to acu­te cri­ses such as the 2015/2016 refu­gee cri­sis, the COVID-19 cri­sis, and the cur­rent war against Ukrai­ne. We aim to empower social entre­pre­neurs in their jour­ney towards achie­ving a grea­ter impact in addi­ti­on to a finan­cial return. 

The second Ukrai­ne Respon­se Cohort will start in June 2023. App­li­ca­ti­ons are open from 1st Febru­a­ry 2023. 

Click here to app­ly on F6S …

We will review app­li­ca­ti­ons and accept start­up teams on an ongo­ing basis – so bet­ter app­ly ear­lier than later!

Fol­low us on LinkedIn 

Check out our Lin­kedIn chan­nel for more infor­ma­ti­on on the pro­gram and fol­low us to keep up to date with the app­li­ca­ti­on pro­cess and the cur­rent cohort! 

Are you inte­res­ted in fur­ther infor­ma­ti­ons via news­let­ter? then send us an e‑mail to redaktion@​phineo.​org with the sub­ject ​„news­let­ter star­tups”. We will then add you to our list!

What can we do for you?

Sebas­ti­an Neu­mann
Head of Impact Star­tups
startups@​phineo.​org

Part­ners