Hey, dear reader!
While I was studying at Nordakademie, I led a student initiative called Entrepreneurs Club. The idea was simple — invite alumni who'd founded startups to share their stories and inspire the next generation.
They would share with great enthusiasm their adventures in Berlin, London, San Francisco. “It felt like a brotherhood”, they told, “everyone so eager to learn your story and help with whatever they could”. Yet when asked about their home base, Hamburg, you could see nothing but frustration and despair on their face — Hamburg was bleak.
The irony? These founders experienced firsthand what a thriving ecosystem looks like and benefited from it. Then they came home and stayed in their silos.
Years later, I still see the same pattern. Local startups show little interest in community. Founders who've done fundraising, opened offices, or expanded abroad aren't mentoring, investing, or even visible. You see them at conferences everywhere but in Hamburg.
"Hamburg has tons of potential" — you keep hearing that. It's become such a never-ending narrative that it's embarrassing. Almost a joke at this point. But what good is potential if those who went from 0 to 1 and beyond keep it behind closed doors?
If we're serious about putting Hamburg on the map, we need a mindset shift. Less complaining and more showing up. Yes, it’s that easy.
To founders: if you've made it here — your experience, your network, your story — the community needs it. Not your criticism from the sidelines. Your presence.
Save the Date 🗓
The events I'm most excited about in the weeks ahead.
March 18
How to: Confidently Answer Critical Questions (German) — Master the art of answering tough questions from juries and investors with debate coach.
March 21
Social Developers Conference (English) — Full-day conference for developers building social impact tech at SAE Institute Hamburg.
April 18
WoHa! Women's Hackathon (English) — Third edition of ARIC's free hackathon bringing together women in tech to tackle four challenges — all levels welcome.
Weekly Picks📍
All the events on my radar for this week.
This Issue’s Gem 💎
March 12
Power Ventures: How to Morph Industries with Green Innovation (English) — Three female-led climate startups pitch live, plus panels on mentorship and scaling, hosted by Carbon13 and Siemens Energy at 1KOMMA5° Showroom.
AI Everywhere 🤖
March 11
The Female AI Club: Community Meet-up (English) — First official Hamburg meetup featuring two AI presentations, networking, and hands-on exchange.
March 12
DVC Data & AI Lunch (English) — Casual pizza lunch for Data & AI enthusiasts at 60 Seconds To Napoli.
Tech Bite 🧑💻
March 12
Women on Stage Special! (English) — AWS User Group celebrates International Women's Day with talks on AWS IoT through music and building a serverless ML platform.
Startup 101 🔨
March 10
Impact Academy: Understanding the Startup Funding Landscape (English/German) — Discover which funding programs and support options are relevant to your startup stage with experts from Startup City Hamburg at Impact Hub.
March 13
build fridays (English) — Ship product alongside fellow founders at this weekly coworking session at SPACE Hamburg — bring your laptop, demo your work, and get unstuck.
Get Inspired ✨
March 11
Hamburg Global Innovators Circle Meetup (English) — Celebrate one year of Hamburg's international founder community with relaxed networking.
March 12
12min.me IGNITE #116 (German/English) — Experience three rapid-fire talks from entrepreneurs followed by Q&A and networking.
Every Saturday
Founders Running Club (English) — Energize your weekend with fellow entrepreneurs during a judgment-free 5K run followed by coffee and meaningful networking conversations.
Open Calls 📣
Grants, programs, and opportunities waiting for your application.
AI NATION Accelerator S26 — For incorporated AI startups ready to scale in Germany. 6-month program with market strategy, product development, investor access, office space, and up to €10K in non-dilutive funding. Deadline: March 9.
Onstage VC Berlin — For stealth, pre-seed, and early seed AI founders. 50 of Germany's best early-stage AI founders meet at Merantix AI Campus on March 24 for speakers, panels, and networking with Earlybird, Atlantic, and re:cap. Deadline: March 13.
Avant Now Accelerator — For majority female-led impact-tech teams at MVP stage. Equity-free funding (€2,500/founder via Berlin Startup Stipendium), 6–12 months of structured scaling, investor access, and leadership coaching. Deadline: March 29.
Job Picks 💼
3 open roles worth a look this week.
Senior AI Engineer at Phrase, a B2B localization SaaS (clients: Uber, Shopify, Bosch, Lufthansa).
Sales Manager Sustainable Solutions at traceless materials, a bio-circular plastics startup (Series A, €36.6M).
Venture Building Intern at Uplift Ventures, Jungheinrich's venture building arm.
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That’s a wrap!
Check out the tune of the week from the found playlist
🏄♂
Share found Hamburg with your friends
See you next week,
Kyrylo from found Hamburg