We are a non-profit association initiated by founders in 2021, dedicated to networking Mecklenburg-Vorpommern since the beginning of 2022.
Since 2022, we have experienced continuous growth and have established ourselves as a community throughout the entire federal state. We measure this progress through various metrics and numbers.”
296
Members
72
StartUps
8
Chapters
1
Scene
Histoy
2021
Begin of the year
A group of aspiring entrepreneurs regularly met in a basement office at the Faculty of Law and State Sciences at the University of Greifswald to discuss whether Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was the preferred state for starting their own businesses.
Due to the trustworthy small communities, short distances, immense potential, and fantastic workation culture, the decision to start their ventures in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was quickly made.
The founders then realized that they lacked a large, cohesive, and values-based startup scene in the state. In cities like Berlin or Hamburg, these scenes almost naturally emerge due to the sheer size of the communities. More effort was needed in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to create such an environment.
Middle of the year
The idea of Gründungswerft was born and established as a non-profit association in the middle of the year. Its purpose is to generate the necessary impulses, a spirit of renewal, and structure, connecting everyone and addressing challenges such as labor shortages, idea generation, finding co-founders, and much more.
In March, we held our first kick-off event with over 70 participants at the Alte Mensa in Greifswald. These numbers were particularly motivating for us at the beginning. In July, we organized the first two entrepreneurial meetups in Neubrandenburg and Stralsund.
From the outset, the association was conceived as a multidimensional organizational entity with a strong digital focus. It possesses a digital essence as a complete ecosystem database and agile project management platform.
‘Entrepreneurs must lead the StartUp-Community.’
The Boulder Thesis
End of the year
In September and October, Rostock and Schwerin joined with their respective meetups. Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald, Rostock, and Schwerin formed local chapters.
2022
Begin of the year
Since the beginning of 2022, legal entities and individuals have been able to become members of the association. Within a few weeks, we already had 40 members. Membership numbers serve as an important indicator for us, helping to constantly assess our target audience focus and community orientation.
At this point, we had spent months exploring the proof-of-concept, collaborating with various ecosystem stakeholders and entrepreneurs. We consistently questioned ourselves and experimented with different approaches. What remained was a statewide community with individual local chapters and fantastic projects.
Middle of the year
With increasing experience and intense exchange with many founders and entrepreneurs, we steadily gained an overall impression of the mechanisms within a startup ecosystem and began developing strategic measures.
We agreed that through intensive grassroots efforts, we could consistently expand the circle of those interested in entrepreneurship within our federal state through a community. It’s simple: Make the state attractive in the field of entrepreneurship and particularly motivate students to stay here.
This perspective did not go unheard within the political sphere.
In mid-2022, we started expanding our offerings to include internationally interested individuals and migrants interested in entrepreneurship. We partnered with the Norwegian company StartUp-Migrants to conduct three-day StartUp Preschools in Rostock, Greifswald, and Wismar. We were able to attract over 80 participants, a great turnout! We hope that as many of them as possible will embark on their entrepreneurial journeys.
Zusammen mit StartUp-Migrants bauen wir die internationale Community International Founders auf und haben ein eigenes Ressort “Internationals” in der Gründungswerft ins Leben gerufen.
End of the year
Alongside StartUp-Migrants, we’re building the International Founders community and have established a dedicated department called ‘Internationals’ within Gründungswerft.
- how2gruenden.de – Plattform, die bundeslandweite Bildungsangebote für Gründer:innen strukturiert und sichtbar macht.
- entrepreneurship-zertifikat.de – Plattform, über die Studierende mit der Absolvierung von Veranstaltungen und Weiterbildungen ein Zertifikat erhalten können.
- ecosystem.gruendungswerft.com – Macht das Ökosystem auf einer interaktiven und filterbaren Karte sichtbar.
Außerdem konnten wir die Sparkasse Vorpommern und die Stiftung der Sparkasse Vorpommern als Projektpartner für HOW2GRÜNDEN gewinnen.
Ende 2022 hatten wir rund 93 Mitglieder (30 StartUps): Was für Zahlen!
Seit November 2022 übernimmt die Gründungswerft, zusammen mit dem AUV Neubrandenburg die Mitträgerschaft an der zentralen Gründungsplattform des Landes, gruender-mv.de. Insbesondere die Schaffung einer modernen Corporate Identity und Relaunch der Plattform wird von der Gründungswerft im Laufe des Jahres 2023 übernommen.
2023
Anfang des Jahres
Anfang des Jahres konnten wir das 160. Mitglied bei uns in der Werft begrüßen, im Mai 2023 bereits das 194. Zahlen, die uns weiter motivieren werden, für uns zu arbeiten!
Mitte des Jahres
In den Frühlings- und Sommermonaten sind wir auf 220 Mitglieder gewachsen und können uns über Rekordbeteiligungen bei unseren Veranstaltungen freuen. Über alle Regionen hinweg haben im Durchschnitt rund 50 Persönlichkeiten an unserem Angebot partizipiert.
