We are funded by the Start-up Transfer.NRW scholarship (https://www.ptj.de/projektfoerderung/wettbewerbe-nrw/start-up-transfer ) for the period from 01.10.2021 to 31.12.2022 with a sum of approximately €266,000. 90 % of the money comes from EU funds, 10 % is officially paid by the FH Aachen. The FH Aachen is responsible for the allocation of the funds. The overlook team are employees (scientific staff or assistants) of the FH and thus receive an appropriate salary.
In addition to the personnel costs, the funding includes
All funds had to be allocated in detail in the project application. We have little room for manoeuvre to make changes to this.
Our original idea that made the start-up transfer grant possible for us was based on our understanding of sustainability:
If a company's sustainability also and especially depends on its employees, then it would be logical for sustainability management to start here.
🤝 Our plan was to develop a software solution that supports companies in the service sector. Because unlike in the manufacturing industry, almost all processes here are non-standardisable. In simplified terms, this means that the sustainability of the individual processes can never be identical, so that in principle a permanent measurement is necessary in order to be able to record sustainability in detail. And for this you need the employees all the more - otherwise these activities cannot be adequately carried out/measured.
📞 Why don't we do this anymore? We have found out through interviews and conversations that this approach is all well and good, but there is simply no demand for it. Companies are currently not yet at the stage where sustainability should/must be recorded in real detail. The big picture is enough and ideally this should be achieved with as little effort as possible. That's pretty bullshit from many points of view. But starting a business only makes sense if there is a market for it.
You could call this the first little fail. But we are sure that we have taken a better path with the new one, because we no longer limit ourselves, but can create even more impact for society.