Which problems are we actually solving that state funding and other funds don’t cover? Where do we differentiate from crowdfunding platforms, foundations, and VC, and where do we overlap?
Donation platform, impact VC, public funding, unconditional basic income by lottery, global reward crowdfunding and a three-layer vehicle: six different answers to similar questions. Where do we differentiate, where do we learn, where do we complement each other?
Largest German donation platform, charitable, since 2007.
Over €41 million in donations channelled to more than 20,000 projects, operated by gut.org gAG, 2.5% transaction fee (platform self-report). Donors pick directly from the listed charitable projects, no institutional allocation decision.
Question for us: Platform logic with full donor choice. Do we simplify that or position deliberately against it, to safeguard impact comparability?
Impact investor in the DACH region, since 2003.
Invests in social ventures with measurable societal impact through a classic equity model (not donations), institutional capital, no crowd element (BonVenture self-report).
Question for us: Classic impact VC, institutionally funded. Where do we end and where do they start once a funded venture moves into a growth stage?
Federal funding programme run by the BMWK, delivered through universities and research institutions, since 1998.
A grant for technology- and knowledge-based ventures emerging from universities. University affiliation is required, a jury reviews applications, and material costs sit alongside the monthly stipend. Programme reports are public, individual ventures are less visible.
Question for us: Classic public-sector funding with a university hook. We address exactly the founders who do not come from universities or who fall through the EXIST filter. Is EXIST complementary or competitive?
Donation-funded basic income via lottery, since 2014.
Around 1.1 to 1.2 million lottery participants, over 330,000 crowd backers, 2,343 winners over ten years, €12,000 per win (12 × €1,000 across 12 months). Unconditional allocation with DIW accompanying research.
Question for us: Unconditional allocation to anyone, no founder-only filter. Where do we differentiate, where do we build on the same mechanic?
Largest German-speaking crowdfunding platform, since 2010, certified B Corporation.
Over €146 million channelled since 2010, more than 15,500 successfully funded projects, community of around 2 million users (platform self-report). Backers receive product rewards, no tax receipt, no equity.
Question for us: Reward-based platform model in the DACH region, B Corp certified. Which parts of the crowd mobilisation translate to our funding model, which stay crowdfunding-specific?
Platform for donations, foundation vehicles and impact investing, B Corp plus charitable trust foundation, Berlin, since 2021.
Three business lines under one entity: monthly micro-donations to charitable recipients, "bcause grow" as a yield vehicle on parked balances, "bcause Impact Portfolio" as the impact-investment layer. Addresses private donors, businesses, philanthropists.
Question for us: Donation-foundation-investment mix for private donors. Where does the boundary to our micro-investor model run, where can we complement each other?
Die sechs Vorbild-Karten oben sind eine kuratierte Auswahl. Die vollständige Vergleichs-Tabelle mit 11 Initiativen und 17 Aspekten liegt im Umfeld.
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