Would you like to found a company in Hamburg or do you already have a successful start-up and are looking for funding programs? Here you will find all the important offers for start-ups in the content and tech sector.
Would you like to found a start-up with your business idea and are looking for financing options or individual advice? Have you already founded a start-up and would like to network with investors? We have collected funding programs and consulting opportunities for start-ups in the field of content with tech and the creative industries in Hamburg.
At our Media Lift incubator, we promote innovative business ideas at the interface of content and tech. In three phases, start-ups receive networking and mentoring opportunities, individual workshops and professional training. We also provide digital tools, workspaces and financial support of 15,000 euros per team. Applications are open to students and start-ups as well as employees from media and digital companies, individual idea providers or well-established teams. The next batch will take place from June to October 2023. Applications start in April 2023.
With our workspace funding, we offer free workspaces for a wide range of start-ups and founders. In our SPACE in Hamburg's Speicherstadt warehouse district, we bring the media and digital industries together in one place. There you have the opportunity to work in close proximity to numerous other start-ups and in exchange with partner companies such as Hamburg-based Carlsen Verlag, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the production company Rocket Beans, the media company Ströer, Google, Snap and Jung von Matt.
Music WorX is a program of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft and Europe's first publicly funded incubator for start-ups in the music and tech sector. Start-ups in the early stages of idea generation can receive start-up support from Music WorX and network sustainably in the music industry. During the three-month program, up to four teams each receive individually tailored training and coaching, €1,500 per month as a living allowance and up to €5,000 per team for support services to develop the business idea.
Games Lift, the funding program of the Gamecity Hamburg initiative, supports developer teams in the development of concepts for digital games. Up to five start-ups are supported each year. During a three-month intensive phase, the teams receive start-up funding of €15,000, a workshop and mentoring program from experienced industry experts and workstations in a centrally located co-working space.
Gamecity Hamburg is your contact for prototype funding in Hamburg - from the first consultation to the transfer of funding. Up to 400,000 euros in funding is available each year. The application phase for the next funding round will start in spring 2025. The funding supports developers and game studios (natural and legal persons) in the creation of prototypes for digital games. The funding is non-repayable and is granted for a maximum of 80,000 euros and a maximum of 80 percent of the eligible costs.
IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH supports technology-oriented start-ups and innovative start-ups in Hamburg with its two programs InnoFounder and InnoRampUp as well as the Innovationsstarter Fund.
The InnoFounder program is explicitly aimed at start-ups from all sectors in the pre-start-up and start-up phase. The founders receive funding to finance their living expenses and costs associated with the start-up project. The maximum amount per start-up is €75,000
Technologically innovative Hamburg start-ups in the founding phase can be supported by InnoRampUp. These include start-ups from the digital tech or industrial tech sectors, for example. In contrast to the InnoFounder program, these start-ups are already beyond the idea phase and have prototypes or beta versions, for example. As part of the program, the start-ups receive funding of up to €150,000.
The Hamburg Investors Network (HIN) of IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH connects start-ups seeking capital with suitable investors. Based on the profiles and preferences of the investors, the network establishes direct contacts with Hamburg start-ups looking for capital. In addition, regular pitch and networking events are organized. For example, HIN promotes women in the start-up scene with the Female StartAperitivo event series. The Female StartAperitivo ACADEMY offers workshops for female founders and potential investors.
AiDiA is the first pitch event to promote black entrepreneurs and is organized by the non-profit association Future of Ghana Germany (FoGG). At the pitch event, eight selected start-ups will prove themselves in a business battle in front of an expert audience and a renowned jury. The start-up that impresses with its idea, team and overall concept wins the prize money of €30,000.
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The AI.STARTUP.HUB Hamburg promotes ideas, start-ups and start-ups in Hamburg and northern Germany that have a special focus on the application of artificial intelligence in business, so-called Applied AI. The teams receive support throughout all start-up development phases. The AI.STARTUP.HUB offers the following programs:
In this six-month program, prospective founders receive financial support, a workplace in Hamburg, individual mentoring and workshops on prototyping, AI and entrepreneurship, networking opportunities and access to tools and services. The program is designed for students and researchers from universities and research institutions and other AI enthusiasts who have a business idea in the field of artificial intelligence and want to found a start-up.
The AI Accelerator Program is aimed at start-ups in the field of artificial intelligence that want to grow and need support in their current development phase. As part of the program, the teams are networked with investors and companies and receive coaching on their market entry and growth strategy.
In the Next Generation Incubator, the Körber Foundation, in cooperation with the Startup Port university network, will be providing start-up expertise specifically for prospective social entrepreneurs under 30 from October 2023. In thematically consecutive sprints of workshops, coaching and individual mentoring offers, they learn within 4 months how to go from an initial idea to a social enterprise ready to be founded.
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The Startup Port bundles the start-up support activities of nine universities and research institutions in the Hamburg region and offers free services for students and researchers, start-ups and established companies as well as start-up advice. These include, for example, advice and support during the start-up process, training and qualification programs and networking events.
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The Startup Port @TUHH at Hamburg University of Technology advises and supports students, scientists and alumni of Hamburg's universities and research institutions in realizing their technology-oriented, knowledge-based and socially valuable business ideas. The Startup Port @TUHH primarily offers advice and further training in the early phase of founding a start-up.
The Career Center of Universität Hamburg examines start-up ideas from students and graduates of Universität Hamburg and provides information on ways and requirements for starting a business.
HAW Hamburg also supports students with workshops, online courses and advice from the initial idea to founding a start-up.
