Our jury decision on soulincubator projects

In November we told you about the wonderful start of the soulincubator ( read about it here ), the first German incubator dedicated to tackling the plastic crisis . We were delighted that so many people signed up and that we were able to start with 101 (!) projects in October 2019. All of these project teams were matched with an individual coach and have since had access to funding, experts and networks via our flexible resource platform.

Phase I and Phase II

In doing so, we are following the motto of our partner ProjectTogether: "Prove instead of advertise" . In other words, we did not want to give preference to projects that can write great applications among the soulincubator participants, but rather give all teams the chance to really work on their ideas and then demonstrate over a period of time what transformative potential they can implement with further funding.

For us, it meant dividing the soulincubator into two phases: Phase I (October 2019 - March 2020) , in which we give all 101 projects the chance to further develop their approach, and Phase II (April - September 2020) , where we support selected projects even more intensively.

The criteria for Phase II

In January, the time had come to evaluate all of these projects in more detail. In Phase II, in addition to the resources from Phase I, there are also scholarships (1500€/person) , a training program and a job in our coworking space in Berlin. This large program was implemented with the support of the European Social Fund and the State of Berlin.

The selection was based on the following criteria:

1. Personality (Team): Why are you the right people?
2. Impactability (ecological-social impact): What problem are you solving?
3. Desirability (value creation): What problem do you solve for your target group?
4. Viability (business model): How viable is your model?
5. Feasibility: How feasible is the solution?
6. Scalability: Local or global?
7. Diversity: How diverse is the team?
8. Agility (learning ability): How capable is the team of learning?

The winners of Phase II

Here are the projects that made it to Phase II:

• Foldie
• recycleonthespot
• anti-plastic campaign
• First Mile Logistics

Other projects

Thanks to the support of Viva con Agua KG and Purpose, additional projects could be funded:

• ReplacePlastic app
• Wild Plastic

We are looking forward to the start of Phase II and are excited about the results that will help us revolutionize the way we deal with plastic.