Neusser Straße in the district of Nippes shows what a future SmartCity could look like, because a section of the street becomes Cologne's climatic road. There, the most important energy projects are implemented. All facets of climate protection are taken into account: from optimal building insulation and maximum heat efficiency to charging stations for electric vehicles and low-energy street lighting. Klimastraße offers innovative companies the opportunity to test their new products and services in everyday life. If possible, companies finance their projects themselves, promising projects are funded from the project budget of RheinEnergie AG. Companies also gain additional value by exchanging valuable information and innovative ideas with other companies, including at climate road events. For all the enthusiasm for innovation, of course, only technology is used that meets the very strict German safety requirements. In addition, RheinEnergie and the City of Cologne make sure that the high Cologne supply standards are adhered to. For all new projects, safety comes first - technically as well as logistically. That is why not everything changes in the climate route - but certainly much better. The following section deals in more detail with the individual projects.

In January 2013, the Hamburg Social Impact Lab opened its doors. Since then, it has supported Hanseatic social entrepreneurs in a space of about 160 square metres. Social Impact Start programme scholarship holders receive coaching and consulting here, as well as plenty of further support to set up their social businesses. The Hamburg Social Impact Lab holds many events for interested persons on all aspects of social entrepreneurship

As a subsidiary of the  Hamburg Investment and Development Bank  , we support innovative business start-ups and young, innovative companies in Hamburg in order to strengthen the startup scene in Hamburg and to contribute to the development of promising companies. For this purpose, we have two ideal with InnoRampUp and the Innovation Starter Fund Hamburg

We turn ideas into enterprises Hanse Ventures is the company builder in Hamburg. We develop our own internet and mobile business concepts, and implement these together with suitable founder teams.

With the start-up garage, comdirect has consciously decided to focus on founders and their ideas at a very early stage. Thus, for the participation in the start-up garage initially only a basic idea necessary, the development of a prototype then takes place during the project phase in the context of the start-up garage. comdirect invites start-ups to pitch their space with FinTech ideas in the comdirect start-up garage. The ideas are evaluated for their impact and opportunities for the banking and finance industry. We offer intensive support to the chosen start-ups!

Solo self-employed persons are understood to be persons who carry out an independent activity on their own, ie without salaried employees. In the creative industry, there is an above-average proportion of solo self-employed compared to other sectors of the economy. People who offer creative services or products without being hired are faced with particular challenges in practice because they have to deal intensively and permanently with questions of their own positioning, customer acquisition, marketing, target groups, etc. Many of our offerings are tailored to the needs of solo freelancers in the creative industry. 

As an incubator, since 2013 we have been promoting innovative startups from the higher education sector. Our seat is in the Harburg inland port. Our origin lies at the Technical University of Hamburg. Within the scope of the funding program »EXIST-Founding Culture - The Founders' College« we were supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) for more than five years. Currently we are part of the "beyourpilot" project of the Department of Economy, Transport and Innovation (BWVI).

The hot. Hamburger ExistenzgründungsInitiative is the first point of contact for anyone looking for self-employment in Hamburg. All the threads of Hamburg's most important start-up initiatives come together here.

nextMedia.Hamburg is Hamburg's joint initiative for the media and digital industry.

Internationalisation programme – support for SME projects Support for small and medium-sized enterprises Do you have a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) based or with a facility in Berlin and are you looking to enter new markets abroad for your products or services? In order to boost your international competitive strength, we can support you with a grant to open up new markets.

Co-working spaces are generally fully-equipped offices and working areas, which offer an opportunity to network within the “community”, alongside complete infrastructure with a range of services. They are used by individuals, startups and an increasing number of outsourced departments of established companies as their main place of work. For the user, they represent a flexible and, depending on the deal, cost-effective alternative to conventional office spaces in self-contained rental units. Startups and larger companies are increasingly preferring co-working spaces over classic office spaces, as they offer straightforward opportunities for an exchange with other people, or to recruit new employees. Berlin is the capital city of company founders. The range of well-equipped co-working spaces in a central location is very wide, and points to continued dynamic growth. The spectrum ranges from small units with a few tables to professionally operated offices with hundreds or sometimes even over 1,000 workplaces. International providers allow their members the opportunity to make use of desks and meeting spaces in other cities around the world.

Berlin can attract by far the most risk capital nationwide and is becoming the most important target area for foreign investors. With a plus of almost 200%, the investment volume of venture capital in Berlin rose in just one year (2017) to almost 3 billion euros, putting Berlin just behind London, in second place. Local business angels, company owned and university related incubators, accelerators as well as national and international venture capital investors support Berlin’s young entrepreneurs in the foundation phase. Numerous successful start-ups have emerged that way, e.g. Zalando, SoundCloud, Wooga and Delivery Hero.

With our online tool it is easy to find available financing options for your business in Berlin. Gain an overview over the relevant publicly funded programs and other funding opportunities and learn how to apply.  With just a few clicks you can find individual ways to finance your business in Berlin. The aim of this Funding Finder is to make it easier for founders and entrepreneurs in Berlin to access the various types of financing and funding.The range of funding opportunities includes not only public sources of funding but also other financing options such as venture capital, crowd funding, leasing and factoring.The information provided represents a selection of what in our experience are the most common forms of financing and funding which are available to businesses in Berlin. It is directed at current and future member companies of the CCI Berlin.