Mayor Christiane Hinninger says: “The rising number of applications is a clear sign of the growing momentum in Wiesbaden’s startup scene. As a city, we support founders as best we can. I warmly congratulate this year’s grant recipients and wish them every success.”

The InnoStartWi startup grant has been awarded in Wiesbaden since 2022 to innovative and technology-based founders. It is a non-repayable, individual-based living allowance of 1,000 euros per month for a period of one year. The grant is intended for founders who live, study, or have registered and operate their business in Wiesbaden—or who have verifiable plans to do so. The business idea must be concrete or already in the implementation phase, as well as novel, innovative, and/or technology-driven. The business model should be designed for long-term success with headquarters in Wiesbaden.

The selection of the funded startups took place as part of a competition. Following a preliminary selection, twelve founders were invited to pitch their ideas to a jury drawn from Wiesbaden’s startup ecosystem. In the end, four startups emerged as winners and will receive the grant this year:

Dirk Weigel is founding “Active Boomer,” a digital platform that makes the experience and knowledge of older professionals available to companies. In light of demographic change and the shortage of skilled workers, the platform connects experienced employees aged 55 and older with companies that wish to benefit from their expertise.

Leonid Enov leads Indelics GmbH, which is developing a process to treat recycled industrial minerals so that they can replace expensive and resource-intensive primary raw materials. Special grinding technology significantly increases the chemical reactivity of the materials, thereby making an innovative contribution to the circular economy with tangible economic benefits.

Paul Flatten is developing “Everstide,” a digital coaching platform that, for the first time, gives endurance sports coaches a complete overview of their athletes’ physical condition—all in one place, in real time, without manual data collection.

Manasse Heidl is building “BeConnect,” a tech startup that connects people with events and offerings in their immediate vicinity. The goal is to highlight local potential and foster genuine encounters in everyday life.

Those interested can find more information about the application process and eligibility requirements at wiesbaden.de/wirtschaft/foerdermittel-wettbewerbe/innostart, (opens in a new tab) as well as at existenzgruendungwiesbadende or by phone at (0611) 313131.