NRW has a new scale-up programme

From spring 2022, the Ministry of Economic Affairs wants to support up to 15 start-ups that are already at an advanced stage of business development. The focus is particularly on expansion abroad.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia is launching a new scale-up program. The state intends to support ten to 15 start-ups at an advanced stage in the coming months. The program will run from spring 2022 and will then support the scale-ups over the following 18 months. The offer includes, for example, mentoring, exchange and support when entering foreign markets.

Johannes Velling, "Deputy Head of Startups and Digital Impulse, Financing" at the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs writes about the reasons behind the program on Linkedin: "With the new program, NRW is rounding off its extensive range of support for startups in the West. The new program starts at one of the points where the NRW start-up ecosystem still has potential." He then goes on to explain what he means: "NRW start-ups are often still not successful enough in scaling up, internationalizing and addressing foreign target markets". The new program aims to change this.

The scale-up program has gained the digihub in Düsseldorf and German Entrepreneurship GmbH as partners. The digihub, based in Düsseldorf, is a digital innovation hub and is well connected in the NRW start-up scene. Through German Entrepreneurship GmbH, which also operates the German Accelerator, the aim is to draw on expertise in NRW, particularly when expanding abroad.