Joint press release with the BMWi: one year 'start-up platform'

• Start-up platform marks its 1st year: Launched one year ago, it is now established as a digital start-up tool for more than 500,000 prospective business founders

Consistently digital entrepreneurship with a regional network – this is the hallmark of the start-up platform initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy and KfW. The free service is tailored exactly to the needs of prospective business founders. This is shown by the strong growth in the numbers of visitors and users and the many start-ups being set up by the users with the aid of the platform.

More than half a million people have visited the start-up platform since it was launched. A digital platform organises the start-up process, providing a benefit that is highly valued by the more than 30,000 registered business founders. It starts with the brainstorming phase and extends through the development of business models and business plans to the concrete financing application.

Peter Altmaier, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy: “The start-up platform is an important building block of the ‘GO!’ start-up campaign which I launched jointly with the business associations. It accompanies prospective business founders comprehensively and digitally on their way. Those who set up their own business strengthen our social market economy with their ideas, products and services. They deserve our appreciation.”

The start-up platform offers tips, tools and advice for people of all ages for all sectors – from the traditional trade sector to specialised, digitalised services. “We need more business founders who strengthen the innovative capacity of the German economy with their entrepreneurial spirit and enthusiasm. With our commitment to the start-up platform, we at KfW have broken new ground and are redefining promotion”, said Dr Ingrid Hengster, member of the Executive Board of KfW.

There is broad support for the start-up platform from Germany’s business promoters. The platform already has 500 partners which include all promotional banks and surety banks of the federal states, more than 50 per cent of all chambers of commerce and industry, well over 100 savings banks and cooperative banks each, and a number of private banks and regional business promotion agencies.

About the start-up platform www.gruenderplattform.de

The Federal Ministry of Economics and KfW accompany the conceptual aspects of the platform and sign up important partners involved with start-up promotion. The company BusinessPilot GmbH is in charge of content and technical development as well as the operation of the platform. It thrives on the collaboration and close cooperation of these three partners. Their common goal is to make entrepreneurship easier in Germany and thereby encourage more people to take this step. The interconnected digital infrastructure makes distances shorter for users. For example, once they have entered their postcode they immediately find suitable banks or promotional institutions nearby. They can interact directly with the partners and have their start-up projects assessed early on. The platform aims to motivate people to become entrepreneurs and shows many inspiring examples. Videos show successful business founders describing how they got their business up and running.