Vision Lab: First Cohort Reflections
Why We Support Entrepreneurs with Migration Backgrounds
Here at Earlybird, we recently wrapped up the first cohort of our Vision Lab program, dedicated to giving entrepreneurs with a migrant background a fairer chance at success. We deeply believe in this cause and back up those beliefs with action. Vision Lab offers mentorship, network access, and funding to teams who have members with migrant backgrounds.
We are convinced that migrants hold massive potential for Germany’s future. To share some of the learnings from the first cohort of Vision Lab, and as we prepare for the next one, we gathered input from the collaborators who make the program possible.
Below are their voices offering four perspectives on why we will continue with our efforts and encourage you to get involved in the second cohort.
1) Nina Rinke, Earlybird Investment Team, Berlin
“We were impressed by the caliber of teams who joined the first batch of the Vision Lab program in early 2021. Most of the eight teams became aware of the Vision Lab through our social media campaigns and were selected from roughly 100 applications. We selected teams who showed the highest ambitions and a true potential to become an outlier from a venture capital perspective.
In order to ensure fast progress in the product development phase, they needed to have at least one tech expert in their founding team. The Vision Lab was founded to nurture diversity in the German startup ecosystem and it was key for us to select founders who actually need our help when entering Germany to build their company. It was challenging to find teams that tick all those boxes, but the outcome was beyond our expectations: we found great talent from around the globe, mostly working on disruptive B2B SaaS solutions in various industries, one hardware startup in the CleanTech space and two consumer companies.
It was incredible to see how the startups developed throughout the weekly workshops from us and our corporate partners, events hosted by portfolio CEOs who have a migration background themselves, (such as Ali Albazaz, the founder & CEO of Inkitt, or Ben Jones, co-founder & Chairman at Nuri) but also the frequent 1-on-1 mentoring sessions hosted by Bain consultants (more info on that follows below).
Given the early stage of the companies, a few went through a lot of challenges when validating their idea, to the extent of pivoting to an entirely new product. Their tireless efforts and creative minds stood out during this process. Others were already more advanced and worked hard on attracting first customers and setting the stage for scaling sales and marketing. Most of the teams kicked off their fundraising efforts with our Demo Day and are in active conversations with investors now.
The most inspiring moments throughout the program have been whenever teams supported each other as sparring partners, sharing their learnings and solving problems together. This was when the true diversity of the program played out fully — and all this happened on a remote basis as we were running the program online. We are truly excited to meet all the teams in-person for the very first time finally this month!”
2) Hendrik Brandis, Co-founder & Partner, Earlybird
“The discussion around Germany’s attractiveness as a vibrant startup hub often follows a similar pattern: We usually look enviously at the innovative power of the Silicon Valley and its visionary founders and then start lamenting about the lack of enthusiasm for tech companies here in Germany.
In fact, we have already made great progress in recent years regarding tech talents, funding opportunities and entrepreneurship in general. However, there is one aspect where the U.S. and the Silicon Valley in particular can be a shining example for us: the successful integration of people with a migration background. In the U.S., migration is seen as a unique opportunity to build a future-proof ecosystem based on talent and cutting-edge ideas. That is why I am strongly convinced that we need to step up our efforts to create an environment where people with a migration background get the best possible opportunity to realize their potential and entrepreneurial ideas.
Personally, our Vision Lab program is an absolute matter of the heart for me. I am truly impressed by the caliber of teams, their passion and dedication. It has been a blast so far and a great privilege at the same time to accompany the first batch throughout the last months. Now, I am really looking forward to the first applications for our second batch. Let’s kick it off!”
3) Bain & Company: In Partnership with Vision Lab
“Working with Earlybird on the Vision Lab program has been a truly unique experience. First and foremost, we were able to contribute to a purpose that is very close to our hearts. In addition, our teams were enthusiastic about and inspired by, the close engagement and strong collaboration with the founder teams.
Emphasizing the Vision Lab’s significance to our firm, Lars Dingemann — the responsible Partner on our part — calls the program “an important component of our commitment to equal opportunities and social justice.” It also fits perfectly with Bain’s Four Pillars of Impact, specifically the one dealing with racial and social equity. It is our firm belief that we as a society must seek to attract the world’s brightest minds and best ideas to secure progress and prosperity. With the Vision Lab, we wish to help people who’ve come to live in Germany to get the support they deserve and put their start-up ideas into practice and stand on their own feet.
Bain’s Advanced Digital and Product Team (ADAPT), consisting of experts in design thinking, prototyping, software engineering, digital marketing, and advanced analytics, offered practical assistance to the program’s founders of migrant backgrounds. Together they held Vision Lab workshops on topics such as “How to approach customers: Concept validation and framework for collecting customer feedback” and “How to design customer-centered products: Sharing learnings from customer interviews.”
In addition, each founding team was assigned a team of two “Bainies” who served as mentors – providing process guidance and personal/team coaching, helping with problem solving, and putting founders in touch with experts and industry contacts in Bain’s network. Both the workshops and the hands-on support of mentors received enthusiastic feedback from founders, who said that being introduced to new business contacts added extra value. Bain mentors also benefited substantially, as the program enabled them to apply and hone their skills outside Bain in an entrepreneurial setting, collaborate with inspiring founder teams, and gain intriguing insights into the start-up scene.”
4) Benjamin Wilkening, new Program Manager for Vision Lab (as of August 2021)
“I am excited to take over the program management of the Vision Lab from Nina Rinke who has done an outstanding job with the program launch and first batch.
Having studied, worked and lived abroad for much of my adult life, I know the challenges of starting a new business in a different country from a first-hand perspective.
As VP International at the Skolkovo Foundation, a Russia-based accelerator, I have supported Russian high-tech startups with their entry into the German market; during this process I saw that not only language, but also business culture and bureaucracy, can be a major obstacle to setting up business here. I’m therefore keen to support migrant entrepreneurs starting their businesses here in Germany.
The success of the first batch has shown that the Vision Lab program can help spawn exciting startups in the German ecosystem. I’m looking forward to managing the program from here onward and excited to see applications for the next batch.
So, if you’re a founder who has migrated to Germany, please consider yourself invited to apply to the next cohort of Vision Lab!
To read more about Vision Lab, visit our webpage. To apply for the program or become a partner, reach out to either Ben Wilkening, or Elisheva Marcus at Earlybird. Thanks for reading, sharing, or clapping so more people discover this article. 👏🏽 We all appreciate your support!
