Start-up Safary Leipzig - Actions speak louder than words

Startup Safary #1

Leipzig

For the third time the Startup Safary took place on the 11th and 12th of May. An event organized for founders, contractors and investors. The diverse program was spread among different locations in the entire city and invited the Startup Scene to get to know each other, to network and to exchange experiences.

Why especially Leipzig is an interesting city for founders revealed several attendees and protagonists.

Rebecca Winter, Project-Manager BIO-NET LEIPZIG:

“Science and economy are merging in the field of life-sciences in the BIO-CITY LEIPZIG. The Startup Safary is a really good opportunity for us as we are able to present BIO CITY LEIPZIG as a Startup Hub to a broader audience beyond the border of branches. We are happy to have the opportunity to share Global Learnings of successful companies and therefore to support Leipzig’s Startup Scene.”

Christiane Seitz und Tiffany La, Startup Wundercurves:

“Wundercurves is a search engine for Oversize-Fashion. We are combining different Online-Shops on our Website to simplify the shopping experience. Our customers can therefore easily find what they want or need. Since last November we are working at the Spin Lab and are definitely going to stay. We consciously decided to found our company in Leipzig. The network here is closely linked and just great. As there often arise similar problems we always have a counterpart, somebody who can give us a good advice. Furthermore, Saxony offers a lot of additional grants which we try to use as much as we can.”

Marcus Bittner und Jennifer Pauli, Social Impact Lab:

“We are supporting social entrepreneurs so called Social Startups who want to solve social problems entrepreneurial. Therefore we offer an eight-month scholarship. Next to an office we provide consultings, qualifications and especially our network for the Startups. Moreover, we are creating a public for our teams. The Social Impact Lab is taking part at the Startup Safary because it belongs to the eco-system and wants to show and present the Social Startups among the scene. These kind of events are extremely important to show how diverse, multifaceted and vivid the Startup Scene is. Leipzig is a great place to establish a company. It’s small enough to attract attention and big enough to develop the first market.”

Jens Thiel und Lucas V. Richter, Fluxbag:

André from the base camp has been asking us if we would like to take part at the Startup Safary and to pitch there. Pitching is fun; we want to support the network and to give something back. That’s why we said yes. Fluxbag is an innovative air pump. You have to fill it up with just one breath of air. After that you can easily inflate whatever you want. We moved to Leipzig three and one and a half years ago. Now we just ask ourselves: Why didn’t we come earlier? It’s amazing; we think it’s the best city of Germany at the moment!”

Elmar Kühn, Spreadshirt:

“Spreadshirt is a perfect example to prove that entrepreneurial spirit can be successful in Leipzig. Out of a team of two men, we developed a company counting 750 employees worldwide. This is definitely a success story! Now we can hopefully continue our achievement with our Spin-off TeamShirts. The Startup Safary is a great opportunity to show interested attendees processes behind the scenes and also to talk about personal problems and steps as a young founder. There are a lot of clever and young people in Leipzig with all the qualities to realize themselves in a Startup.

If one thinks about founding a Startup many questions arise and exchanging experiences counts a lot, especially at the beginning. Entrepreneurs-to-be often have to struggle with uncertainty; still they shouldn’t query their decisions and just act. I hope I could give a good insight how young Startup-Teams try to deal with the different stages of their company’s formation without ever getting discouraged. At least it was what I experiences during the three years together with TeamShirts. I had a lot of fun sharing my experiences at the Startup Safary and was happy to get into contact with interesting partners.”

Claire Briatore, Digital Media Women:

“With our foundation of Digital Media Women in May 2016 we try to support women who a part of the digital industry. Our aim is to make them more public and to promote them with varying events and Meet-Up concepts. We want to show the variety of Leipzig’s digital industry – the East of Germany shouldn’t be underestimated! The summer will be all about #DMW Leipzig, female leadership, corporate publishing and networking. We take leaders to the stage and encourage women to share their success and personal stories. Men are always welcome, of course. True the motto: “Actions speak louder than words!”

Immanuel Rebarczyk, ekoio:

“On the basis of vehicle data ekoio develops individual telematic applications. If companies want to control their vehicle fleets efficiently and in a long term successful, we offer the perfect tool for them. During the foundation phase of a young Startup it’s inalienable to have the right connections and to develop the product-to-be with the support of experienced mentors. The Spin Lab offers the ideal basis. It supports young founders in a six-month program offering infrastructure, workshops as well as connections to investors.

ekoio was able to profit from this program and is still happy to be supported. The Spin Lab as well as the Coworking Space Spinoffice offers us the perfect opportunity to connect our life in Leipzig together with our work. The Startup Safary is one of the highlights in Leipzig. It’s an event for young Startups as well as a market place that gives us the opportunity to present ekoio in front of anyone interested and to potential employees.

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