Innovate for Impact – Startup Competition 2023 (Grant EUR 7,000)

• Individual coaching and assistance: If you are selected in this competition, BID will provide you with individual business coaching which is mandatory for all. The coaching assists you especially in deepening your market research – if necessary –, in further developing your business plan or in reviewing your business model. A high-quality business plan will help you to access investors, business partners and clients and convince them of your business idea. The support that begins in Germany will be continued in your country of origin, where we collaborate with an established incubator with expert knowledge of the local market and start-up scene as well as with local networks and contacts – all of which you can benefit from.
• Financial support: If you are selected in this competition, you will also receive a grant of up to EUR 7,000. A grant contract is concluded for this purpose. You may use the grant to cover travel costs and other services and measures that have been identified as relevant to starting your business during the coaching process. Please note: We cannot finance equipment or provide capital for your business.

Specific examples of measures and services that you may finance with the EUR 7,000 budget include:

• Trips to deepen your market research, explore further business potentials and initiate contacts
• Legal advice, for example on the choice of business model or on patent protection ›› Technical advice, for example on assessing technical feasibility or on developing prototypes
• Development of a marketing concept, including communication measures like branding and digital presence

BID also assists you in:

• Networking, for example with successful entrepreneurs and business founders in your sector, potential business partners, business networks or incubators
• Searching for financing options and investors

Eligibility

• You originally come from Ecuador, Cameroon, Colombia, Ghana, India, Serbia, Tunisia or Vietnam.
• You or another member of your founding team currently resides in Germany. This is important because of legal issues in order to conclude a grant contract.
• Your business will create positive impact in your country of origin, because it offers solutions to existing social challenges or environmental problems, and because it creates jobs and therefore prosperity and opens up new prospects.
• At the time of your application, you already have a sound business plan that you intend to implement in your country of origin in the next months.
• At the time of your selection by BID, your business has not yet been officially established. Or you have already founded your business, but still are in the start-up phase.
• Your project appears feasible in light of the prevailing conditions, opportunities and limitations in the target country.
• You must be convinced that you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur and that your technical expertise and skills put you in a position to start and run your own business.

For more information and application.