Further initiatives of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft

Media Lift

Program starts in spring 2025

We promote content and tech start-ups with our Media Lift incubator.

We support innovative business ideas in the field of content and technology from all over Europe. Whether students, founders or employees from media and digital companies - we help you to develop your prototypes further. Media Lift accompanies you in three phases: From validating your idea to developing your product and successfully positioning it on the market.

Our goal: Four out of five teams secure follow-up or follow-up financing after participating. We promote the visibility of your ideas through targeted marketing and launch initial pilot projects with companies from Hamburg's media and digital economy. Our results speak for themselves - we have been able to keep our promise in previous rounds.

And best of all: your prototypes are yours! After the incubator, you can develop your project independently, whether with the support of our partners in the Hamburg start-up ecosystem or within your company - and all without giving up shares.

Application phase?
January 7 - February 18, 2025

When?
March - July 2025

Where?
Remote and in Hamburg

The current batch is still running. Let us remind you now about the next round of Media Lift.

Save the Date!

Your advantages at a glance

Program procedure

07.01.25 – 18.02.25

Digital prepitch

Have you been invited to the next round of the selection process? Only one more presentation separates you from the Incubator!

28.02.25

Prepitches

You are one of the selected teams and present your business models to the jury! Show your potential - the jury will select the five most promising teams to be included in the Media Lift program.

24.03.25 – 22.04.25Current

Phase 1: Find problem-solution fit

We support you with product development, team building and your start-up idea through coaching sessions.

22.04.25

Milestone Pitch #1

You show the jury what you have achieved in the first phase. Present your developments and get valuable feedback to start the next phase stronger.

23.04.25 – 02.06.25

Phase 2: Test product-market fit

Take your product development to the next level! With Media Lift, you test your solutions, e.g. with the help of the product field, through testing sessions and online marketing workshops. At the same time, you develop your team further - through targeted promotion of psychological safety, recruiting strategies for start-ups and individual team coaching. This will prepare you optimally for the next steps.

02.06.25

Milestone Pitch #2

You present your progress from the second phase to the jury! Show how your ideas have developed, convince them with your product and receive specific feedback for the final steps in the program.

03.06.25 – 17.07.25

Phase 3: Develop product-market fit

You develop your go-to-market strategy and get your start-up ready for the market. Media Lift offers you workshops on business models, financing, SEO, fundraising and pricing strategies. You will also receive valuable feedback from mentors and team mentors to help you refine your strategy. Together we will prepare you for the big show.

16.10.2024

Graduation Pitch

Ready to get started? The final pitch at SPACE offers the opportunity to celebrate the teams' successes, explore ideas and exchange ideas about shared potential.

From 17.07.25

Sparring with Philipp Westermeyer

One team will win an exclusive sparring session with Philipp Westermeyer, the founder of OMR. In a personal meeting, he will provide valuable tips, give feedback on your business model and answer your questions.

Contact

Bruno has shorter curly brown hair and a 7-day beard. He wears a black sweater with a short turtleneck.

The Media Lift jury

Claas Schüddekopf

Head of Media Office, Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media

Mirja Meyer

Managing Director, Jung von Matt TECH

Nina Klaß

Leiterin, nextMedia.Hamburg

Philip Brandecker

VP Business Management, New Work SE

Zamina Ahmad

Co-Founder, shades&contrast

Mentors

Agnes Chung

Senior Director AI & Search, Co-Founder, Musicube from Songtradr

Alena Schneck

Chief Executive Officer, Toern

Andreas Spiegler

Independent product manager & business designer

Anke Nehrenberg

Chief Executive Officer, bergan

Arian Okhovat Alavian

Co-Founder, Panta Rhai

Arne Kittler

Product Leadership Consultant, Product at Heart

Astrid Waterstraat

Head of Human Resources and Organizational Development, Pilot

Bastian Springer

Senior Consultant Transformation & Change, Haspa Next

Christian Friedrich

Self-employed in process consulting, strategy and digital transformation

Christian Wilkens

Chief Client Officer, EssenceMediacom

Christine Schmitt

Senior Communications Consultant, Faktor 3

Dietmar Schlumbohm

Managing Director, Phononet

Fabian Röttcher

TeamLead TechDesign & Solutions Architect, Studio Hamburg MCI

Felix Burger

Creative Innovation Lead, Grabarz & Partner

Fenja Franke

Chief Product & Strategy Officer, Foodboom

Isabel Reich

Development Coordinator, Editor & Team Leader, NDR/N-JOY

Jan Peichl

Lead Client Partner Retail/eCommerce, Pinterest

Jana Schilling

Expert Strategy & Innovation, Ströer Core

Julia Heidinger

Co-Founder & Software Developer, Social Developers Club

Julian Berzbach

Director Sales & Business Development Digital Audio / Podcast, Ad Alliance (part of RTL Deutschland / Bertelsmann)

Laura Tönnsen

AI Manager & Program Manager AI.STARTUP.HUB, Artificial Intelligence Center Hamburg e.V.

Lennart Schneider

Strategy consultant, self-employed

Lucy Larbi

Management consultant and Agility+ coach, Business Empowerment Hub

Lutz Leiding

Director Client Services, The Trade Desk

Marco Maas

Managing Director & Data Journalist, Datenfreunde

Markus Dömer

Head of Business Development & AI TechHub, Carlsen Verlag

Maximilian Forster

Head of Business Development, Funke Media Group

Michaela Schirrmann

Chief Marketing Officer, Hamburger Morgenpost

Nicolas Meibohm

Head of Business Development, Oxolo

Nikolai Bockholt

Creative Technologist, Google

Nils Grönwoldt

Chief of Staff, Weischer.Cinema Germany

Nils Neumann

Head of Foundation Support/Startup Support, Tutech Innovation

Nina Peters

Management ndF:Hamburg, Neue deutsche Filmgesellschaft

Nora Usunjan

Client Solutions Manager, Meta

Paul Solbach

Technical Director, Jung von Matt TECH

Philip Marz

Managing Director, Fulfil Eventconsulting

Raoul Nayar

Expert Corporate Strategy & Innovation, Ströer Core

Raphael Fix

Head of Innovation Management, Omnicom Media Group

Ruben Best

Innovation Manager & Project Management Innovation, Der Spiegel

Ruth Lemmen

Coach, Consultant, Co-Founder & Ambassador Womenize!, Interim Management + Coaching

Sandra Roggow

Senior Product Owner (Lead Consultant), space22

Sarah Kübler

Founder and Managing Director, HitchOn GmbH

Simon Knittel

Managing Director, Jung von Matt START

Sonja Hoge

Management, Onilo

Stephanie Busch

VP People & Culture, Nect GmbH

Tatjana Anisimov

Lead Product Innovation Manager, ntv

Thorben Koop

Program Manager InnoFounder/InnoImpact, IFB Innovationsstarter

Tobias Heuer

Director Consulting Studio ZX, Zeit Publishing Group

Tolgay Azman

Co-Chief Executive Officer, Ampyre

Toni Willkommen

Chief Growth & Brand Officer, brand eins Medien

Vincent Hilpert

Manager Digital Business Central Europe & Marketing Labs, Universal Music Group

Wiebke Nadzeika

Chief Operating Officer, Emilia

Yu Chen

Projektmanagerin Startup-Unit Hamburg, Hamburg Invest Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft

Media Lift Alumni

We have supported many different teams in recent years. Here you can find an overview of our Media Lift alumni.

Alle Gründer*innen aus Media Lift Batch 6 stehen zusammen auf einer Brücke. Im Hintergrund ist die Hamburger Hafencity.

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