duisport: Startup investor day in demand despite Corona

startport

30.04.2020, 11:00

duisport: Startup investor day in demand despite Corona

The Investors' Day of the Duisburg startup program startport remains in demand despite the coronavirus pandemic. At this year's startport GmbH Digital Investor Day, fourteen investors exchanged ideas with various startport startups in 72 discussions.

This year's investors included well-known names such as freigeist, the investment fund of ex-TV lion Frank Thelen, Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, kloeckner.v and Evonik Venture Capital. The amazing thing is that the number of discussions actually doubled compared to the previous year. "At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it was clear to us that we had to hold the Investor Day now more than ever. The pandemic has taught companies around the world how important digitalization and innovation are, especially in the logistics sector. The number of participants at this year's Investors' Day shows that our concept has worked," says Peter Trapp, Managing Director of startport. "Due to the current situation, we opted for a digital format this year," adds Trapp.

Two years ago, the Port of Duisburg founded the startport accelerator program. Its aim is to support innovations and solutions for logistics and the supply chain in the Rhine-Ruhr region and bring them to companies. In terms of content and funding, the project is supported by strong partners such as Klöcker & Co , Evonik, Initiativkreis Ruhr, RAG Stiftung, BVB, Wirtschaftsbetriebe Duisburg and duisport. This contribution is bearing fruit for the startport partners. Alexander Naghi from kloeckner.v explains: "We are delighted to be taking part in the startport Investor Day today and to learn more about the investment potential in start-ups for Klöckner."

The Investor Day has come at just the right time for the young entrepreneurs. In a previous survey conducted by startport, the founders stated that they did not expect to realize the investment planned for 2020. An assessment that is also in line with the findings of the German Startups Association. "In coronavirus times, fundraising has become really difficult for startups. All investors are unsettled and there are hardly any opportunities to pitch. The startport accelerator's investor day is a great opportunity to exchange ideas with potential and really high-caliber investors," says Arne Oltmann, founder of the startup limbiq from the fourth startport cohort. The Investor Day made it clear: Innovative startups for the logistics and supply chain sectors are still in demand, investors and companies just need to keep their courage up.

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