The 2nd edition of the DEEP Startup Ecosystem Conference that took place in Essen, Germany on 18th October 2021 convened ecosystem leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers and investors from across Europe and beyond. Their a common goal is to foster discussion on the most pressing challenges that startup ecosystems face today. The event hosted a virtual think tank for a deep analysis of new funding models for impact startups and tips on fundraising.
Social Entrepreneurship has an inherent difficulty to find external funding. Yet here are some tips from the DEEP Conference participants helping to increase chances to raise funds:
Support the Demand Side
Social entrepreneurs need acceleration services to become investment ready. Most social innovators in Europe need enhanced business skills to scale their business. Participants from all over Europe agreed that social entrepreneurs throughout all countries usually lack business skills, as they are more focused on social impact. Investors will be more inclined to invest in impact startups if the teams would show strong business skills and drive. Building more local competence centers in social innovation can support the up-taking of impact driven initiatives into local businesses.
Mixed Funding Opportunities
Match-funding supported through European and local public schemes can enhance the results of the granting opportunities and consolidate the sustainability and growth of the enterprises (e.g.: crowdfunding & grants). For this, local public authorities and national funding authorities should consider developing match-funding schemes to enhance the impact of their policies.
Measure Impact
Most investors need clear impact metrics that the social enterprises should report on. The methodology should take into consideration that a “one-size-fits-all” is not suitable, especially for the great variety of social enterprises and different impacts that they are producing. That is why accelerators should build methodologies that can be replicated.
Build Local Ecosystems
Local ecosystems should be supported in order to foster and generate new business ideas & collaborations. Ecosystem builders should focus on creating networks that could generate new partnerships and growth opportunities for changemakers.
Find the full publication here.
Join us in Ludwigsburg!
The next conference will be on 23rd and 24th June in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The Stuttgart metropolitan area is famous for its hidden champions and high-tech innovators from Bosch to Porsche or MANN+HUMMEL. Ludwigsburg itself is home to Europe’s best Film and Animation Academies.
The conference will feature international visionary keynotes, data-driven workshops on startup ecosystem trends, open networking sessions to engage with the startup’s scene thought leaders, governments, investors, corporates and innovation managers as well as a startup portfolio exchange for initiating long-term collaborations.
You can also find about the strategic recommendations from previous editions and read the following Strategy White Papers:
About DEEP Ecosystems
DEEP Ecosystems is a global community of startup ecosystem builders, dedicated to supporting grassroot innovation projects and fostering interconnectivity among startup ecosystems globally.
We believe in entrepreneurs to build ecosystems that solve the biggest challenges of our times. We help to grow and connect ecosystems through our DEEP Startup Ecosystem Accelerator (DEEPSEA), with over 200 alumni since 2018, one of the biggest ecosystem builder communities in the world that gathers twice a year in our DEEP Startup Ecosystem Conference. Both are backed by our data-driven insights and reports on startup ecosystems through our open Startup Heatmap Europe data platform.