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Hamburg is a great place to build a startup, but most of the early-stage entrepreneurs we speak to are not aware of the local resources that are available to help them.

With applications for the Hamburg Founder Institute now open, we are excited to release the Hamburg Startup Ecosystem Canvas, which is currently in Draft v1 below! It was developed by the Hamburg Founder Institute and local leaders Bjoern Fedder, Hauke Windmueller, and Rachit Shadra

This is just Version 1.0, and while we spent many hours on this research, more input is needed. Please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document to help us complete the list. There are definitely omissions on this current version. 

Are you looking to build a startup in Hamburg? Then apply to the Hamburg Founder Institute today!

Text version included below, for ease of searching:

Startup Stages


There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.

1. Idea Stage

This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.

A. Inspire

  • Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters, Startup Digest)
    1. Deutsche Startups
    2. EU Startups Hamburg
    3. Förderland
    4. Gründerszene
    5. Hamburg Startup Monitor
    6. Hamburg Startups
    7. Social Startups
    8. Startup Digest Hamburg
    9. StartupSpot Hamburg
  • Inspirational Events: Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups)
    1. 12min.me Hamburg
    2. Chef Treff
    3. Impact Innovation Hamburg
    4. Innovationsforum Hamburg
    5. MLOVE
    6. NEXT Conference
    7. PyLadies Hamburg
    8. Startup Weekend Hamburg
    9. True Tech Talks

B. Educate

  • Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspire, like 1 Million Cups, Startup Grind, Startup Founder 101, etc).
    1. Artificial Intelligence Meetup
    2. Big Data Hamburg
    3. Big Data & NoSQL Meetup Hamburg
    4. Blockchain Mania
    5. Data Science Hamburg
    6. DDJ Hamburg
    7. Digital Hub Logistics Hamburg
    8. Hamburg, Blockchain, Bitcoin & Co.
    9. Hamburg Education and Technology Meetup
    10. Hamburg Internet of Things (IoT) User Group
    11. Hamburg R User Group
    12. Hamburg WordPress Meetup
    13. hh.ex Hamburg Elixir Meetup
    14. inovex Meetup Hamburg
    15. Java User Group Hamburg
    16. LogisticsTech Meetup Hamburg
    17. meetup.ai [Hamburg]
    18. Meteor Hamburg
    19. nextReality.Hamburg
    20. node.HH - Node.js User Group
    21. PHP-Usergroup Hamburg (PHPUGHH)
    22. Regionalgruppe Hamburg der GI/GACM
    23. Rust Meetup Hamburg
    24. Scrum Masters HH
    25. SEO HH
    26. Shapes — Hamburg Design Meetup
    27. Smart Datalytics
    28. Startup Founder 101 Hamburg
    29. Startup Grind Hamburg
    30. Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute, General Assembly, Lean Startup Machine, code camps, etc)
    1. Agile Coaching
    2. Agile Meets HR
    3. Azure Meetup Hamburg
    4. Becoming a Real Startup
    5. betahaus Academy
    6. CocoaHeads Hamburg
    7. Creative Technology Meetup Hamburg
    8. Design Thinking Meetup Hamburg
    9. Entrepreneur Academy
    10. Founder Institute
    11. GDG Go & Cloud User Group Hamburg
    12. GDG Hamburg Android
    13. Google Developer Group Hamburg
    14. Hamburg AWS User Group
    15. Hamburg C# and .NET User Group Meetup
    16. Hamburg Coding School
    17. Hamburg Data Science Meetup
    18. Hamburg Kubernetes/Cloud-Native Meetup
    19. Hamburg Legal Tech Meetup
    20. Hamburg React.js Meetup
    21. Hamburg Startup Idea Bootcamp: How to Evaluate Your Ideas
    22. Hamburg Startup: Idea to IPO
    23. Hamburg Unity Meetup
    24. Hamburg Unreal Engine Meetup
    25. Hamburg Vue.js Meetup
    26. IoT - Rebells Hamburg
    27. Laravel Hamburg
    28. Lean Startup Hamburg
    29. Lean Startup HH
    30. Lean Startup Machine Hamburg
    31. MOINWORLD
    32. neue fische
    33. OpenTechSchool Hamburg Meetup
    34. ProductTank Hamburg
    35. PyData Hamburg
    36. Python User Group Hamburg
    37. Refugees on Rails
    38. Scala Hamburg
    39. Serverless Hamburg
    40. Softwarearchitektur Hamburg
    41. Softwerkskammer Hamburg
    42. SQL Server Hamburg
    43. The Pulse Hamburg Meetup
    44. ThoughtWorks Hamburg
    45. Treffen junger StartUp Gründer
    46. Tutech Academy Seminars
    47. Unternehmer Brainfood
    48. WeWork Labs
    49. Working Products
    50. C. Validate
  • Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching)
    1. Blockchain & Beer Hamburg
    2. Business Club Hamburg
    3. CoFoundersLab
    4. Cross Innovation Meetup
    5. Entrepreneurs' Organization
    6. Founder2be
    7. FounderDating
    8. Hamburg Startups
    9. Hamburger Technology Meetup
    10. ImpulsNetWorking
    11. Lunchtastic Hamburg
    12. New Work Meetup Hamburg
    13. Startup Co-Founder Matching: Find the Right Partner in Hamburg
    14. Startup Sucht
    15. Startup Walk & Talk Hamburg
    16. StartupBlink Hamburg
    17. The Pulse Hamburg
    18. Women Startups & Entrepreneurs Hamburg
    19. Women Techmakers Hamburg
  • Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and resources)
    1. #CINEMAJOURNEY Hackathon
    2. Attraktor
    3. Blue Hackers Club
    4. BookLab Hackathon
    5. Code for Hamburg
    6. CodeCruise
    7. Coding Brunch
    8. decode HH
    9. Fabulous St.Pauli
    10. Hack The Wind
    11. Hackathon and Startup Challenges Hamburg
    12. Hacks/Hackers Hamburg
    13. Hamburg Legal Hackers
    14. Infracoders Hamburg
    15. Mobility Hackathon
    16. OpenLab
    17. PAX TECH HACK
    18. SinnerSchrader Hamburg
    19. Virtual Reality Hamburg

2. Launch Stage

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

A. Start

  • Establish: Law firms & banks for startups
    1. Commerzbank
    2. Danske Bank
    3. Deutsche Bank
    4. DNB Germany
    5. Gleiss Lutz
    6. GLS-Bank
    7. GRP Rainer
    8. Hamburger Volksbank eG
    9. Hanseatic Bank
    10. HSBC
    11. HypoVereinsbank
    12. Jaberi Lawyer
    13. Jyske Bank
    14. Latham & Watkins, LLP
    15. Norton Rose Fulbright
    16. Osborne Clarke
    17. Römermann Rechtsanwälte
    18. Santander
    19. Sparda-Bank Hamburg eG
    20. ZiraatBank
  • Workspace: Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure)
    1. 20Scoops
    2. Beehive
    3. betahaus
    4. cloudsters Hamburg
    5. CoWorkBude14
    6. Coworking Airport HAM
    7. Design Offices
    8. FilmFabrique Coworking
    9. Hamburg Business Center - Coworking Space
    10. Health Innovation Port
    11. Medienhof Coworking
    12. meinbüro
    13. Mindspace
    14. places hamburg
    15. SHHARED
    16. Werkheim Hamburg
    17. WeWork
    18. WorkRepublic

B. Develop

  • Formalize: Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups.  
    1. appdream
    2. appmotion
    3. APPUNK
    4. Budacode
    5. DESIGNERDOCK
    6. Dynport
    7. Factorial
    8. FIRMENHILFE
    9. freiheit
    10. Scheller & Partner
    11. Servicekontor Hamburg
    12. Steuerkanzlei Susanne Weber
    13. SThree Careers
  • Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS, Startup Next, etc)
    1. .garage startups Hamburg
    2. 20Scoops
    3. comdirect Start-up Garage
    4. Founder Institute Hamburg 2019
    5. GoDo
    6. Hamburg Innovation
    7. Hanse Ventures
    8. Health Innovation Port
    9. hit-Technopark
    10. KPMG startup initiative
    11. LiquidLabs
    12. PwC NextLevel startup initiative
    13. SOCIAL IMPACT LAB Hamburg
    14. Startup Dock

C. Launch

  • Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
    1. Airbus BizLab
    2. German Accelerator
    3. Health Innovation Port
    4. InnoFounder
    5. InnoRampUp
    6. Music WorX Accelerator
    7. Next Commerce Accelerator
    8. Next Media Accelerator
    9. NLA Accelerator
    10. SEA'D
    11. Start & Found
    12. Startupbootcamp Transport Hamburg
  • Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)
    1. .garage startups hamburg 10-Minute-Pitch
    2. BETAPITCH Hamburg
    3. Chef Treff
    4. Funders Club Pitch Days
    5. Hanse Ventures Ideensturm
    6. HONEYMOON Startup Pitch
    7. NCA Demo Day
    8. Next Media Accelerator Demo Day
    9. NLA Demo Day
    10. Pitch Blue
    11. Pitch Night
    12. Startups @Reeperbahn 2018 Pitch
    13. UniPitch

3. Growth Stage

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.

A. Recognition

  • Investor Networking:  Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors)
    1. Angel Investment Netz
    2. Business Angels Netzwerk Deutschland
    3. Funders Club
    4. Spätschicht Hamburg
  • Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses)
    1. DW
    2. Euronews Hamburg
    3. Hamburg News
    4. Hamburger Abendblatt
    5. Hamburger Morgenpost
    6. The Local
    7. Wirtschaft Hamburg

B. Funding

  • Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors
    1. Andreas v. Lochow
    2. Christian Miele
    3. Christopher Pommerening
    4. Daniel Grözinger
    5. Daniela Hinrichs
    6. Dirk Freise
    7. Dmitry Muzhikov
    8. Dominik Gyllensvärd
    9. Gunnar Froh
    10. Heiko Hubertz
    11. Jochen Maaß
    12. Katharina Wolff
    13. Lars Hinrichs
    14. Linda Dannenberg
    15. Malte Barth
    16. Marc Griefahn
    17. Marcel Uhlemann
    18. Oliver SK
    19. Paul Jozefak
    20. Philipp Schroeder
    21. Roberto Valerio
    22. Rolf Mathies
    23. Stephan R. Boehm
    24. Stephan Uhrenbacher
    25. Stephan Wirries
    26. Sven Kirkerup
    27. Sven OSsenbrüggen
    28. Thomas Grota
    29. Thomas Promny
    30. Tim Bode
    31. Tim Jaudszims
    32. Weddad Naziri
    33. Wilhelm Scholze
    34. Yasin Sebastian Qureshi
  • Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond
    1. 20Scoops
    2. Active Venture Partners
    3. Apollo Ventures
    4. Aquila Capital
    5. BC Partners
    6. Beaufort Capital
    7. Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners
    8. e.ventures
    9. Endeit Capital
    10. Hanse Ventures
    11. H.I.G. Capital
    12. Innovationsstarter Fonds
    13. Neuhaus Partners
    14. Shortcut Ventures
    15. TruVenturo
    16. Waterland
    17. Winterberg Group

C. Growth

  • Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
    1. Allianz
    2. Arkadia
    3. BlueCap HR
    4. Engel & Völkers
    5. h+h Versicherungskontor
    6. Hagen & Kruse
    7. Hays
    8. Hiscox
    9. Instant Offices
    10. Randstad
    11. Regus
    12. SKEPP
    13. Vesterling
    14. Zurich
    15. ZWICK HR Consulting
  • Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
    1. Accenture
    2. Aon
    3. Atkins
    4. BearingPoint
    5. BMC
    6. Boston Consulting Group
    7. Capgemini
    8. CGI
    9. Crowe
    10. Deloitte
    11. Ernst & Young
    12. Ginkgo Management Consulting
    13. Horváth & Partners Management Consultants
    14. Kantar Millward Brown
    15. Kantar TNS
    16. KPMG
    17. McKinsey & Company
    18. Mercer
    19. North Highland
    20. Oliver Wyman
    21. Porsche Consulting
    22. PwC
    23. Roland Berger
    24. Tata Consultancy Services
    25. Vivaldi
    26. Warth & Klein Grant Thornton AG

4. Success Stories

Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.

  1. ABOUT YOU
  2. connected-health.eu
  3. Deposit Solutions
  4. Dreamlines
  5. Dynport
  6. etventure
  7. Figo
  8. Finanzcheck.de
  9. FreightHub
  10. Jimdo
  11. Keeeb
  12. Kreditech
  13. mytaxi
  14. payever
  15. Phrase
  16. Risk Ident
  17. Stylelounge
  18. Visarity
  19. Wunder Mobility
  20. WorkGenius
  21. XING



Supporters


To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.

1. Evangelists

Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies.

  1. Alex Ahom
  2. Aubert Vanderlinden
  3. Bjoern Fedder
  4. Christoph Magnussen
  5. Conny Nolzen
  6. Dr. Ralf Belusa
  7. Hauke Windmueller
  8. Henning C. Frank
  9. Henrik Moessinger
  10. J. Marco Bremer
  11. Jeremy Abbett
  12. Julia von Winterfeldt
  13. Karel J. Golta
  14. Karina Popova
  15. Malte Sussdorff
  16. Marc Buckley
  17. Michael Sillus
  18. Miriam Hanke
  19. Odin Mühlenbein
  20. Oliver Roessling
  21. Ottavia Tomarchio
  22. Patrick Sinn
  23. Peter Kabel
  24. Philip von Have
  25. Rachit Shadra
  26. Rayk Hahne
  27. Rey Buckman
  28. Roman Ernst
  29. Sabela Garcia Cuesta
  30. Sebastian Johnston
  31. Sina Gritzuhn
  32. Thorsten Wittmuetz
  33. Veronika Reichboth

2. Government

Public organizations that facilitate local economic development (ex. Start with the chamber of commerce, “Invest in XXX”, “Economic Ministry of XXX” , “Innovation”, R&D, etc)

  1. future.hamburg
  2. Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
  3. Hamburg Innovation
  4. Hamburg Invest
  5. IFB Innovationsstarter
  6. Tutech Innovation GmbH
  7. Welcome to Hamburg

3. Talent

Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

  • Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)
    1. EBC Hochschule
    2. Euro-FH
    3. Hamburg School of Business Administration
    4. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences - HAW Hamburg
    5. ISS Business School
    6. Kühne Logistics University
    7. TUHH
    8. Universität Hamburg
  • Local Employers (Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices, “major technology companies in XX”)
    1. Adobe
    2. ALTEN Technology
    3. Amazon
    4. Bigpoint
    5. Cisco
    6. Facebook
    7. Goodgame Studios
    8. Google
    9. HP
    10. IBM
    11. InnoGames
    12. Jimdo
    13. Kreditech
    14. Lufthansa Technik
    15. Microsoft
    16. MyTaxi
    17. NXP Semiconductors
    18. Oracle
    19. Philips
    20. Samsung
    21. Siemens
    22. Smaato
    23. T-Systems
    24. Telefónica Deutschland
    25. XING
    26. Zalando

 

*  *  *

Learn more about the Startup Ecosystem Canvas here, and leave us your thoughts on the Hamburg Canvas on this collaborative Google document (This is just a DRAFT, and more input is needed!)

Are you looking to build a startup in Hamburg? Then apply to the Hamburg Founder Institute today

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