Ignition+ Accelerator for Start-ups

The Ignition Accelerator was launched in 2017 by the Digital Innovation Hub Düsseldorf/Rhineland to drive early-stage start-ups in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and support them on their way to proof-of-concept and product-market fit. In recent years, we have grown into a strong network of start-ups, established companies, experienced entrepreneurs and a large number of qualified coaches and mentors. In our opinion, it is precisely this network that is the formula for success for our start-ups. Since 2018, we have also been supporting the Gründungsstipendium.NRW, which is explicitly aimed at pre-seed start-ups. This has enabled us to further develop our classic program (Ignition Classic) and expand our funding portfolio to include Ignition+ (industry-specific topic verticals with advanced teams). While we at Ignition Classic have supported teams in the realization of their innovations, namely in the development of the first prototype, we are now focusing on the further development of the prototypes in order to optimally adapt them to customer needs. In this way, the teams successfully master their market entry, secure their first financing and begin to scale up. This makes the Ignition Accelerator a strong and holistic link between the Gründungsstipendium.NRW and the Scale-up.NRW program, which we manage with the Digital Innovation Hub Düsseldorf/Rhineland. But one thing remains unchanged: Our focus is still on digital and high-tech business models. We are currently supporting start-ups in our Ignition+ Accelerator with a focus on Construction-, Energy- & ConstructionTech. If you want to learn more, check out our Insta channel (ignitiondus) and our website (www.ignitiondus.de) and sign up for our digihub newsletter (www.digihub.de).