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Trends drive transformation and radical change. They are the undercurrents sweeping our work at Impact Hub Berlin and changemakers around the globe towards the future. Trends create new realities and knowledge of those trends can enable us to shape those realities. This is as true for sustainable food, as it is for circular economy, green tech or diversity, equity and inclusion — the other ecosystems that Impact Hub Berlin is helping to shape with our partners and ventures.

This year the Impact Hub Berlin community celebrated the success of its very first ZebraCorn! This new super rare “species” can be classed as both a “zebra” and a “unicorn” – a startup that’s valued at over USD 1 billion and works to improve society and make a sustainable difference.

In March, Impact Hub Berlin attended the Women Supporting Women in Green Tech & Climate Innovation networking event, organised by Unique-U Coaching and Climate-KIC and hosted at the British Embassy Berlin.

May 2023 marked the start of the esteemed 18th International Architecture Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia in Italy. In this year’s German Pavilion, “Open for Maintenance,” Impact Hub Berlin was honoured to represent an important aspect of contemporary architecture - circularity.

In this article, we explore how the two concepts of circular economy and biodiversity interact by looking at the impact that the current biodiversity loss has on our economies and societies, and how circular economy principles can help to tackle this crisis.

Bringing people together through food and social cooking at Open Kitchen, hosted at Impact Hub Berlin.

In order to fight sustainability issues worldwide, circularity in cities becomes of ever-more importance. Startups can be agents of change, by disrupting business-as-usual through new ideas and innovations. Berlin offers startups a favourable environment for circular entrepreneurship, resulting in a vibrant and innovative startup scene. In this article, we present eight innovative startups from Berlin and highlight how they have changed or will change their industries.

This week the German Sustainable Business Association (BNW), Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany (SEND) and Impact Hub Berlin GmbH proudly launched the Place for Sustainable Business in Berlin (Ort für Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften) — a project funded by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Business that helps businesses in Berlin transition towards more sustainable practices, increases the visibility of sustainable business and promotes cooperation to shape tomorrow's economy.

Policies and regulations play a key role in creating an enabling environment for a circular economy. We conducted an assessment of current legislative trends and developments, and investigated how they will push circularity forward – here in Berlin, on a national level and beyond.

We are now into the last week of applications for the fourth batch of our Feeding the City incubation programme!  Feeding the City is our six-month online incubation programme, developed in partnership with industry experts, designed for Germany-based teams that are working to bring their sustainable food solutions to life. We sat down with two participants of last year's cohort to ask them how Feeding the City supported and developed their sustainable food ideas.

In February 2023 Impact Hub Berlin celebrated one full year since we threw open the doors to our state-of-the-art circular co-working space!  It was our dream to build a workplace which reflected our values, and we are proud to say we have achieved this with our new home: the CRCLR House — a sustainable co-working hub built to support our changemakers, impact startups and partners.

Impact Hub Berlin’s brand new DEI advisory board is dedicated to supporting FINTA* founders in the field of participation and empowerment. Click here to learn more!

Materials are created and used in almost every industry; from housing to manufactured goods, from mobility to construction. Circular marketplaces are playing a crucial role in the new economy by changing the way we use, manufacture and purpose materials and products. Circular marketplaces are widely recognised alongside second-hand marketplaces — yet circular marketplaces are not only limited to resale products. So what actually is a circular marketplace?

Impact Hub Berlin has chosen and announced the fourth group of Circular Together participants, our early-stage Circular Economy Incubator. With the support of the Berliner Startup Stipendium, Impact Hub Berlin has been running the Circular Together Incubation Programme for the last two years and Batch #4 will be kicking off at the beginning of December 2022!

What is the Degrowth theory, and how could it potentially be used to reduce unsustainable economic growth? We explore how degrowth could be used to combat difficult global existential issues, and the theory relates to the circular economy.

Greenwashing -- coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1980s -- is a term used to describe false or misleading information about a company's sustainability or environmental practises. What does this look like in the real world? We explore how companies can knowingly (and unknowingly) be guilty of this harmful practise.

In September the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises celebrated nine outstanding social enterprises with a proven track record of positive impact in and around Berlin. In partnership with Impact Hub Berlin and Social Economy Berlin, the Berlins Soziale Unternehmen award is the first of its kind, but hopes to encourage more of Berlin’s start-ups, ventures and enterprises to make social impact an important part of their growth. The event was held at our sustainable, circular co-working space and brought together members of our Berlin community to celebrate social impact and a greener future.

Over the years Impact Hub Berlin has provided support, community, connection and more to changemakers dedicated to making the world a greener and more inclusive space. We meet some of our valued Impact Hub Berlin coworking members across our ecosystems, and ask them about what makes our space and community so special.

What is "greenwashing" and how do companies use this tactic to deceive consumers and hurt the environment? Scientists warn about the detrimental consequences for the future of our civilization, linking our unsustainable consumption patterns to increasing economic, social, and climate disruptions. Whether the global sustainability goals will be achieved heavily depends on the capacity of companies to reform, redesign and restructure their business models to minimise their negative impact. Yet, most business leaders appear unfazed when managing their firms and organisations, and their role in achieving sustainability. 

This month, The Global Climate Strike returns to Berlin, and the Impact Hub Berlin community will be there. Here’s why it’s more important than ever.

Creatures thrive when they are part of a healthy ecosystem, and the same goes for startups. Startup Guide interviewed Leon Reiner, Impact Hub Berlin's Managing Director, to find out how we are creating ecosystems to support the next generation of impact-driven entrepreneurs.

Innovators, entrepreneurs, and curious individuals of all kinds united at the opening party of Impact Hub Berlin’s new circular coworking space under common themes – the desire to change the world for the better, connect with like-minded changemakers, and have some fun.

In Berlin – a place that continually reinvents itself – another seismic change is beginning to get underway. The city with so many strings to its bow, not least its melting pot of creative inhabitants, state-of-the-art innovations and alternative culture, is spawning a new generation of entrepreneurs determined to drive the transformation towards a circular economy.

Impact Hub Berlin is proud to announce its partnership with development agency for agribusiness and rural areas Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank. Together with Impact Hub Berlin, Rentenbank will support entrepreneurs and innovators to develop impactful solutions and projects within their sustainable food ecosystem, and aid the transition towards a circular food value chain.

Impact Hub Berlin has opened its new 3,500m2 sustainable coworking space in Berlin-Neukölln to empower entrepreneurs and organisations to co-create innovative solutions for people and the planet. By supporting founders, corporate innovators and institutional changemakers to collaborate through incubators, programming and events, the new Impact Hub Berlin raises the benchmark for the sustainability and innovation ecosystem.

At Impact Hub Berlin, we know that the transition towards a circular economy is a non-negotiable strategy for ensuring a fair and sustainable future. That's why we put out a call for impact entrepreneurs working on circular economy solutions in Berlin to apply to our Circular Together incubator programme. Now we're excited to introduce you to the selected teams.

After months of hard work, the new Impact Hub Berlin - built and operated according to sustainable, circular economy principles - has opened its doors to our community of impact entrepreneurs.

As we start this exciting new year for Impact Hub Berlin, we're very proud that our team is evolving too.

Our second Circular Together programme for circular economy-focused ventures supported nine Berlin-based startups in 2021.

Meet the circular economy ventures selected for Impact Hub Berlin’s first Circular Together incubator.