Innovations for Inclusive Startups – “Inclusion through Innovation”
The program supports founders, startups, and companies in promoting greater inclusion through innovation. It assists participants in developing business, product, or service ideas that are “barrier-free!” or align with the motto “designed for all” – thereby also opening up entirely new target groups. Through consultations, expert input, and networking opportunities, startups as well as small and medium-sized enterprises are intended to realize the opportunities, benefits, and possibilities of greater inclusion, while simultaneously enhancing their innovative strength, performance, and sustainable success.
Participation in the program is open to individuals with self-perceived physical or psychological limitations, as well as founders, startups, and companies with inclusive business ideas or an interest in inclusive portfolios and work processes.
For newcomers, the program offers consultations to prepare for self-employment on topics such as business plan coaching, business model development, ensuring viability, as well as general formalities and financing questions.
For people with disabilities, the program also offers specially tailored consultations on behalf of the Landeswohlfahrtsverband in Hesse. The LWV Hessen provides individual grants for this purpose.
Background: Kompass launched the pilot, research, and consulting project “Inclusion & Innovation” for small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and employees with visual impairments in Hesse. Using a socio-economic consulting approach, Kompass analyzes and identifies the individual competencies of visually impaired people within the context of entrepreneurial value chains. The goal is to unlock untapped potential that no company can afford to ignore today! However, this requires the understanding that in our visually dominated world, the diversity of these potentials is only partially perceived, especially in economic dimensions, and often excludes people with visual impairments.
Topics covered
- promote a new culture of diversity
- recognize niches and special expertise
- develop a more flexible and efficiency-oriented distribution of tasks and responsibilities
- find innovative solutions
- discover new business ideas
- strengthen awareness of the wide range of individual potentials of people with sensory disabilities
- create inclusion-oriented interfaces
- promote exchange and networking among freelancers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups, and employees regardless of physical limitations
Objectives
- Unlock the diverse potentials of professional collaboration between people with and without disabilities
- create spaces for inclusive ideas
- make resources accessible for inclusive approaches and business models
- impart know-how for successful founding or business development within the framework of inclusive business ideas and work processes
