Over the last months we were a part of the RESPOND Accelerator - the first accelerator program promoting both responsible leadership and sustainable business models in line with the UN 2030 Agenda. Its their mission to promote and scale solutions to the most pressing social, environmental, and economic challenges of our time. RESPOND works with entrepreneurs across the globe to accelerate sustainable business models, drive innovation, and empower responsible leadership. Or to put it in their words:
‘’We believe responsible leadership, innovation, and sustainable business models are powerful ways to respond to global challenges, and achieve systemic change. It’s no longer about if we respond, but how we respond.’’
We are very happy we were one of the selected start-ups of the 2021 cohort, and had the chance to join the programme during the last months. One of the highlights was definitely the RESPONDAYS event - the grand closing event on the 13th and 14th of October 2021, where all participants were invited to meet at the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Pavilion in Munich. The first event day ended with RESPOND demo night, where we got the chance to pitch our business to leading investors, industry representatives, thought leaders and the press. In case you would like to see Johanna and Anne on stage, you can rewatch it here: https://respond-accelerator.com/events/respondays-2021/, Day 1 – October 13, starting at 01:03:05
RESPONDAYS at BMW Foundation Pavilion, Munich. All images: © BMW Foundation, Photographer Marc Beckmann
To sum up, the past months were super insightful, and we are grateful for everything we’ve learned and even more grateful for the amazing mentors, founders, and start-ups we have met along the way!
Or as our Co-founder Johanna put it:
‘’Founding an impact start-up can be equally beautiful as well as difficult at times. The RESPOND accelerator gave us the chance to not only learn from other amazing impact start-up founders and experienced mentors, but also to share our experiences – the highs and the lows - with each other. Altogether, it was a very valuable experience that we wouldn't miss for the world!’’
All 2021 Start-ups and programme members in October in Munich © BMW Foundation, Photographer Marc Beckmann