Putting startup skills to work for refugees
When legendary adventurer Rüdiger Nehberg visited us to speak last week, when the whole Project A family, including entrepreneurs and investors, met up for our Portfolio Days, we were very curious how it would turn out. Nehberg, one of my childhood heroes, who has devoted his life to serving others without pause, going from being a spider-eating survival artist to a champion of the disadvantaged in South America, Africa, the Middle East, thrown now into the start-up world, boomtown Berlin, faster, higher, farther, better, with its non-stop scaling and optimizing of unit economics: how was that going to work? Well, it worked tremendously. It was important to us that we stake out a clear position: Though we value economic success, it is important to us to work with individuals who feel a sense of social responsibility, who represent values that go beyond pure optimization.
There is no question that these are turbulent times for all of us in Europe. Much has been written, spoken and discussed in regards to those who have had to leave their homes and face enormous danger in order to reach us and seek shelter here. And time and again the question has been posed: Can we manage to meet the challenge ahead? Being confronted with great tasks is nothing unusual for entrepreneurs like us. We are constantly faced with challenges that seem gigantic and for which failure almost seems like the pre-programmed result. And still we can hardly wait to try again and again. Success proves our optimism right. Our method here at Project A can be explained quickly: We search out brilliant entrepreneurs who approach their projects with a lot of energy and grit. In doing so, we always keep in mind the fact that nothing plays out in real life exactly the way it was planned. Project A supports our partners with the required capital, but also with operative know-how: 100 experts who are there at the founders’ sides, with concrete help and advice and loads of experience.
Project A supports the #refugeehackathon in Berlin
Now we would also like to apply the same principle to do our part in tackling this challenge, which is surely the one that future generations will think of when they look back to our generation. That’s why we are very happy to be able to support the Refugee Hackathon in Berlin that starts today. Financing the event as one of its main sponsors is only part of what we intend to do. A hackathon is of course also a perfect occasion for us to share our operative capabilities. As in many other parts of the start-up scene, at Project A a group came together quickly that wanted to do more than just donate clothing. Some of our experts have already been involved for quite a while in a project that aims to facilitate the integration of refugees. On the website of the Refugee Hackathon, there is a whole list of projects that we will be working on this weekend. From our perspective, a hackathon is the perfect opportunity to channel the energy and creativity of the start-up scene towards making a positive contribution to society. And apparently we’re not the only ones who see it that way: Although the event was originally conceived for around 100 participants, there have already been over 200 registrations so far, and a second location has been added. Simon and Aaron from our team will keep you updated on the Project A Insights blog about the hackathon and the projects that arise from it.
My own experiences with refugees date back further than 2006, when I worked in logistics for humanitarian aid projects in East Africa. In fact they began much earlier — through my family, I came into contact early with the suffering of those who are forced to leave their homes. But ever since that year, while the whole world seemed to be in Germany for the football World Cup, and I was experiencing refugee camps first hand in areas torn by civil war, I am certain of the fact that there are few things worse than the suffering experienced by refugees. Therefore, there can be only one answer to the question of whether we can manage to meet the challenge ahead. Of course we can manage it! And we’re going to get started today.
