About Impact Factory

We connect impact startups with our corporate partners early on and move their innovative ideas forward together.

We turn impact startups into the companies of tomorrow.

Impact Factory is a unique founder fellowship that gives social entrepreneurs from all over Germany a collaborative space where scalable innovations emerge to tackle complex social and environmental challenges.

If you want to found a company built on a social business model, this is your home. We connect impact startups with our corporate partners early on and move their socially innovative ideas forward together.

Our nonprofit – Anthropia

As Anthropia gGmbH, we're active beyond our main project, Impact Factory, working with all kinds of people and organizations to transform our economy! Here you'll find more about our other offerings, such as the NRW founder fellowship (Gründungsstipendium NRW), our podcast and more!

350

+

Startups

14

Batches

700

+

Community members

100

%

Free for startups

The founding partners

Impact Factory is a joint initiative of its founding partners Beisheim Stiftung, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, KfW Stiftung and Anthropia gGmbH, supported by program partner Der Paritätische NRW.

Beisheim Stiftung

The Beisheim Stiftung is dedicated to dialogue between generations and to shaping social change. It develops its own programs and supports projects that aim to encourage active participation in society. Its nationwide work focuses on education, health, culture and sport. In the spirit of its founder, Otto Beisheim, the foundation acts entrepreneurially and in partnership.

Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH

As a family-owned investment company, Haniel today shapes a diversified portfolio and, as a value developer, pursues a long-term and sustainable investment strategy. Despite its international focus, Haniel has never lost sight of what is close to home: the city of Duisburg and the Ruhr region. Here, the holding company contributes to education and takes responsibility for its home location.

KfW Stiftung

The KfW Stiftung was founded in October 2012 and is an operating nonprofit foundation. It addresses the great challenges facing society – globalization, environmental and climate protection, and demographic change. It supports initiatives that question existing patterns, develops concepts for alternative action and offers platforms for exchange across borders. With its projects, it aims to inspire others to follow suit. In this way, the KfW Stiftung creates room for new thinking, fosters diversity in the economy, ecology, society and culture, and takes on responsibility.

Anthropia gGmbH

Anthropia brings together people who believe a different world is possible. It creates spaces for impact where lateral and independent thinkers can tackle and solve today's social problems. Together with its partner organizations, Anthropia founded Impact Factory, the innovation hub for social entrepreneurs.

Der Paritätische NRW

Around 3,100 social organizations work under the umbrella of Der Paritätische NRW. Many of them grew out of civic engagement and social movements. The association helps them get started, advises them on professional, business and organizational matters, and represents their interests with policymakers and funding bodies. Its members are as diverse as society itself, and they all share one thing: tolerance, openness and diversity are the foundation of everything they do.

Our team

Want to join our team? You'll find open positions and more info at the link below.

Arlette Hernández

Senior Manager Impact Factory

Christina Wachtendonk

Event & Community Manager

Dirk Sander

Managing Director & Co-Founder

Dr. Michèle Kuschel

Chief of People and Program Officer

Katharina Dreyer

Human Resources

Markus Löhndorf

Senior Relationship Manager & Business Coach, Financing

May the Impact be with you!

May the Impact be with you!

Max Mühlberger

Senior AI Innovation & Impact Lead

Portrait Oliver Kuschel

Oliver Kuschel

Managing Director & Co-Founder

Patrick Weisker

Ecosystem & Technology Manager

Roman Rüdiger

Chief Acceleration Officer

Building the future together

Together with our network partners, we drive forward future-proof projects, startups and initiatives. Through joint activities and event formats, we spread the idea of creating impact in an economically viable way.

Villa Anthropia on the Haniel Campus in Duisburg

The Ruhr region's most unusual startup house is home to Villa Anthropia, Germany's innovation hub for social entrepreneurs. We bring together people who want to make the world a better place for future generations. We create spaces for impact where creative and independent thinkers can recognize, tackle and solve today's social problems. Together with its partner organizations, Anthropia founded Impact Factory and, with Villa Anthropia on the Haniel Campus, created a place where real work gets done.

Innovation and change instead of coal: the drive to think in new, different and forward-looking ways is in our DNA. Industrial history was written here in the Ruhr metropolis, made possible by courage, entrepreneurship, social cohesion and the integration of different cultures. On the Haniel Campus in Duisburg-Ruhrort, Anthropia carries this tradition forward.

Write to us

Our team will get back to you as soon as possible.

Call us

If it's urgent, feel free to give us a call.

Visit us

You'll find us at Villa Anthropia on the Haniel Campus in Duisburg-Ruhrort.