NEXT-LEVEL GROWTH
Scaleup programmes support young companies looking to take the leap into the next phase of growth by providing access to capital, mentoring, networking opportunities and strategic guidance. In North Rhine-Westphalia, Scale-up.NRW is regarded as a flagship programme, and Düsseldorf is playing a key part in it.
Dr Anna Lukasson-Herzig, founder & CEO of nyris, at the Scale-up.NRW Graduation Night.
A successful startup does not automatically become a fastgrowing company. To tap into new markets and secure larger rounds of funding, a company needs more than just a good product; it needs sustainable structures, clear processes, strong sales and a solid network. This is precisely where scaleup programmes come in. They support companies that have moved beyond the early startup phase and now require professional growth management. At the heart of this ecosystem is Scale-up. NRW, the scaleup programme of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). It was launched in 2021 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to fill a gap: whilst there are many support schemes for young startups, targeted support for the growth phase had long been lacking. ’We have thus created a very good foundation for startups to develop into scaleups,‘ says Senior Scaleup Manager Dr Christopher Smolka. The programme is ‘unique in Germany when it comes to dedicated scaling support‘. At its core is a community that brings founders together with experienced scaleup entrepreneurs and investors, thereby pooling scaling expertise, access to capital and growth prospects.
Growth requires planning: for scaleups, it’s not just about good ideas, but also about clear structures, financing and the next strategic step.
Growth needs Structure
The programme, run by digihub Düsseldorf/Rheinland and the Start2 Group, is aimed at startups that have moved well beyond the early stages. Typical criteria include funding of at least one million euros, an annual turnover of around 500,000 euros and a team of at least 15 full-time employees. From up to 80 applications, 10 to 14 teams are selected per batch. There are no industry restrictions: B2B software meets hardware, medtech meets sustainability, deep tech meets platform models. The programme runs for 18 months. A deep-dive phase is followed by mentoring, workshops, peer-to-peer sessions, investor formats and networking events. ‘There is no standard path to scaling. Every startup must find its own way,‘ says Smolka. What, in his view, distinguishes successful scaleups? The mindset. The best teams focus early on how to position themselves for scalability, rather than waiting until growth becomes overwhelming. Many founders are able to improvise for a long time. But at some point, simply “muddling through” is no longer enough. That’s when you need processes, clear responsibilities and a robust organisational structure. This is precisely why Scale-up. NRW focuses on sharing experiences and bringing founders together with people who have already experienced similar growth phases. The community comprises 49 startups, over 160 founders and around 500 mentors. Feedback from the participating teams shows just how valuable this exchange is. For Retraced, a Düsseldorf-based platform for supply chain transparency in the textile industry, Scale-up.NRW was “invaluable”, says founder Lukas Pünder. In particular, the combination of expert knowledge and exchange with other scaleups made internationalisation faster and more cost-effective. Oscar Schäfer, founder of the Düsseldorf-based ticketing platform vivenu, also highlights the exchange with other startup teams in identical growth phases as the greatest added value. ‘From camaraderie and expertise to fantastic events. The programme stands for quality,‘ sums up Caesar van Heyningen, CEO of the medtech startup CUREosity.
Opening up Markets
Alongside the nationwide programme, corporates are also developing their own scaleup initiatives. In Düsseldorf, ERGO’s ScaleHub shows how companies can provide startups with access to markets, customers and international sales structures, as well as to industry knowledge and regulatory expertise. Solutions are piloted within corporate processes there and, in the bestcase scenario, scaled across business units or countries. At the same time, the corporate world faces its own challenges: differing paces, complex procurement and compliance processes, or pilot projects without clear prospects for scaling up. A corporate programme will therefore only be successful if it addresses genuine business needs, has clear points of contact and focuses on “commercial value creation” rather than innovation hype.
Johanna Antonie Tjaden-Schulte, Member of the Board, NRW.BANK
The Question of Capital
Yet as important as programmes, networks and mentoring are, in the end it is often financing that determines growth. Johanna Antonie Tjaden-Schulte, a member of the Executive Board of NRW.BANK, sees the difference between startups and scale-ups primarily in their size. Whilst early-stage startups develop and test technologies, scale-ups focus on transferring them to an industrial scale. ’This step is often hugely capital-intensive and involves setting up entire factory facilities with corresponding investments in staff, machinery and equipment,‘ she says. In Germany and Europe, it often still takes too long to bring together investors for larger deals. Development banks such as NRW.BANK could act as co-investors here: the bank invests alongside private investors, thereby leveraging private capital by a factor of between two and seven, according to Tjaden-Schulte. Düsseldorf and NRW thus have a dense support network: Prescaler programmes prepare companies, corporate programmes open up markets, Scale-up.NRW brings together mentoring, community and financing partners such as NRW.BANK to help mobilise growth capital. After all, scale-ups are not simply larger startups. They are companies in a fragile transitional phase – with the potential to bring jobs, value creation and international visibility to NRW.•
Text: Karolina Landowski
Pictures: Scale-up.NRW / paint the town studios, Retraced, NRW.BANK / Christian Lord Otto
