Deadline : February 15, 2023
Apply for the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme in Berlin Germany for the Spring session 2023. The Westerwelle Young Founders Programme runs for a period of 6 months and is a fully funded programme dedicated to outstanding young entrepreneurs from selected emerging and developing countries all around the world. The major aim of this program is to connect young founders from all over the world while offering a mentoring programme tailored to their particular challenges facing our world today.
For a duration of 6 months, the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme Spring 2023 will bring together 25 leaders from emerging markets. This will involve a six months training session in which selected young founders will have the opportunity to develop their company and connections with the support of a personal mentor and to exchange ideas with the other young founders, engage in diverse discussions and obtain feedback.
Towards the end of the program, the Westerwelle Foundation will select the top ten (10) best inspiring and performing Young Founders who will then be invited to the Top-10-Conference which will take place in Berlin. The conference will give these selected startups the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of investors, participate in workshops and networking events and get an insight into the German start-up scene. All this effort will have its main goal to help these young founders to further developing their entrepreneurial skills and their international network.
Benefits
- You will have the chance to attend the a week-long Top-10 Conference in Berlin with travel and accommodation fully covered by the Westerwelle Foundation
- As a participant, you will be assigned a personal mentor who is an experienced entrepreneur and will function as a sparring partner with whom you can discuss upcoming challenges and new opportunities.
- Participants will engage in monthly peer mentoring calls with the other successful Young Founders of the cohort to share knowledge with and support each other
- You will gain from unique exposure to the Berlin startup scene and the public for you and your startup via our social media channels and our networks,
- Assistance beyond the programme as we remain a contact person for the Young Founders and will help you to find suitable experts for challenges, offer possibilities to share learnings with current cohorts or celebrate successes.
- The buddy programme that connects alumni of the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme with new Young Founders that operate in the same business to potentially open doors and enhance mutual exchange.
Eligibility
- Candidates must have recently started a for-profit company with a scalable business model that has achieved Product-Market Fit and has ideally secured first external funding.
- your company is based in a developing or emerging country or has a strong business focus on developing and emerging economies.
- you possess a good working knowledge of English
- Applicants must be available for the digital kick-off conference and can make time to participate in monthly mentoring and peer mentoring calls for the 6-month programme.
- You must possess valid travel documents including a visa to enter Germany, and valid travel medical insurance.
Application
- Please note that the application period will close on February 15, 2023. All workshops and communications during the programme will be conducted in English so all participants are required to demonstrate a sufficient level of proficiency of English
- You do not necessarily have to posses an English proficiency certificate, however, your English skills will be examined from the written application as well as during the interview.
- Startup founders are encouraged to apply again even if they had not been accepted into the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme before. A rejection is not a judgement of entrepreneurial skills or the business idea as the application process is highly competitive.
- All applications will be screened and those that make it through the first stage will be shortlisted candidates for a Skype interview. Based on the results of both the written applications and Skype interviews, a jury then selects the candidates who will get to participate in the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme.
To apply, Click here
For more information, visit the official website here
