Further initiatives of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft
The MediaTech industry holds enormous potential. Through our Investmentkreis, we connect promising startups with investors.
role='presentation'MediaTech startups develop digital products that can be scaled with minimal effort. At the same time, they often lack access to investors and a strategic network. This can lead to funding gaps—especially after a successful launch phase—that prevent them from successfully establishing themselves in the market.
With our investment network, we’re changing that. We bring investors and startups together so that startups can successfully enter the market and grow sustainably. Over 20 investors are already on board and are looking forward to meeting high-growth startups.
We look forward to hearing about exciting business ideas!
Register a startup
The matching process between investors and startups takes place via the “Dealum” platform. Once you’ve registered your startup and meet our criteria, you’ll be visible to investors for 90 days.
Investors decide based on their individual interests whether to contact your startup. nextMedia.Hamburg does not invest directly and does not make investment recommendations.
We know that founders work as flexibly as possible regardless of location, which is why we’re opening our investment network to startups from across the DACH region. However, our events, our network, and our expertise are based in Hamburg.
Registrieren
Profil in Dealum anlegen
Eure Bewerbung entspricht den Kriterien
Investor*innen entdecken das Start-up
Investmentrunde abschließen
Global companies like Canva and Spotify demonstrate the relevance of business models from the MediaTech industry to our society and the investment potential within the industry.
Local startups like InnoGames and Neuroflash are also successful internationally and play a major role in this. Key factors in their success have been partnerships, the right network, and savvy investors.
Through our Media Lift Accelerator, we support innovative business ideas in the MediaTech sector. Together with our partners and mentors, we’ve already been able to support several startups in recent years.
Applications Reviewed
Startups Supported by nextMedia.Hamburg
Startups with Follow-On Financing
AudioStack betreibt eine cloudbasierte Plattform für die KI-gestützte Audioproduktion. Durch unser Matchingevent hat die Verlagsgruppe Oetinger mit AudioStack kooperiert. Gemeinsam haben sie eine KI-gesteuerte Storytelling-Lösung entwickelt, um personalisierte Audioinhalte für Kinder zu erstellen. Heute arbeitet AudioStack mit großen Kunden wie dentsu, Bloomberg und dem Handelsblatt zusammen.
Das Start-up Penemue war zu Beginn Teil des Media Lift Batches 6. Penemue ist eine KI-basierte Software, die gegen Hassrede (Hatespeech) und digitale Gewalt im Internet vorgeht. Nach Abschluss des Förderprogramms konnte sich Penemue ein Funding über 1,7 Mio. Euro sichern (Seed Runde). Heute arbeitet Penemue mit Kunden wie dem DFB, BASF und dem SWR zusammen und baut sein Geschäft kontinuierlich weiter aus.
PHONT ist eine KI-gestützte Anwendung, mit der Untertitel visuell an die Inhalte und Emotionen des Films oder der Serie angepasst werden. PHONT war ebenfalls Teil von Media Lift und konnte sich nach Abschluss des Programms einen sechsstelligen Betrag via Pre-Seed-Runde sichern. Seither konnte das Unternehmen weiter wachsen und zählt heute Sender wie ProSieben, Deutschlandfunk und den Hessischen Rundfunk zu seinen Kunden.
Starting immediately, startups in need of investment can register via our deal flow platform, Dealum. Investors from our network will reach out if they’re interested and can enter into direct negotiations with the startups. The process will be complemented by a matchmaking event in August, where startups and investors can meet in person.
We are looking for startups in the media, digital, and creative industries from the DACH region that are in the pre- or seed phase. You should already have your first paying customers or validated pilot projects and be strongly focused on growth.
Our investment network brings together a diverse group of investors: primarily business angels, but also foundations, family offices, corporate venture capital (CVC) firms, and venture capital (VC) firms that focus on innovative business models from the eleven submarkets of the creative industries.
You’ll need a pitch deck, an executive summary, your current cap table, and a financial model covering 12 to 24 months— or at least specific figures for your current MRR/ARR and burn rate. If available: customer references, KPIs such as retention, CAC, and LTV, as well as proof of concept (POC). PDFs are ideal. Dealum will guide you step by step through the application process.
You apply through Dealum. After a brief screening by our team, we forward your application to investors via the Dealum portal. They will contact you directly if they’re interested. The process on the platform takes a maximum of 6 weeks. When investors reach out depends on their level of interest and may happen sooner or later. We merely act as a facilitator—whether discussions or investments take place is decided solely by the investors.
We do not invest ourselves and do not make recommendations for specific investment structures. The platform brings together investors with different preferences—such as equity, SAFE/convertible, or investment amounts. Please specify your desired investment amount and preferred financing structure in your application so that interested investors can immediately see if it’s a good fit.
Once a match is made, we’ll help you coordinate initial meetings upon request and explain the process. Keep in mind, however, that investors decide for themselves whether to follow up. We do not engage in active investment management and do not provide investment recommendations.
We treat uploaded data confidentially and use Dealum as a secure portal. We do not enter into formal NDAs with investors. If you would like to share confidential documents only after an NDA has been signed, please note this in your application. We will inform investors of your request for an NDA, but ultimately they decide for themselves whether and when to sign one.
We’re talking about startups that combine digital technologies with the media industry—such as streaming platforms, AI-powered tools for design and content, or virtual reality applications that create new audience experiences. This also includes advertising technologies and data-driven solutions for music, film, gaming, and publishing. What matters to us is that these companies have the potential to positively transform the media and digital industries with their innovative solutions.
