In general, we rule out almost no idea across the board, as long as it credibly shows an impact focus. However, there are cases where, in our experience, our work delivers less good results or doesn't fit our own statutory purpose:
1. Applications from individuals are just as welcome as applications from teams. Please note, however, that in the medium term we train startup founders, not sole proprietors. This means we tend to rule out businesses founded by individuals who, for example, want to offer a coaching service that is directly and permanently tied to them as a person. In that case, the criterion of scalability is missing. As an alternative, founders with this kind of business model can check whether funding or a grant from the German Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) is possible – you'll find more on this here, among other places.
2. The same applies to startups that operate purely as consultancies, e.g. for sustainability services. Here, we're looking for clear innovation.
3. One of the few exclusion criteria is business models that appear on common impact blacklists. This means, for example, that we don't support alcohol or gambling.
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