Frequently Asked Questions

The program lasts a total of 18 months and starts in March every year.

Central program components include individual support from experienced and first-class mentors, individual workshops and group workshops, peer2peer learning formats and subject-relevant events both in NRW and on site at the Softlanding Pads in the respective international target markets.

Our program is designed to accelerate the growth of already successful start-ups. You benefit from the expertise of our team - locally and in globally important target markets - as well as from the extensive experience and knowledge of our mentors during individual coaching and workshops.

The program is highly tailored to the individual needs of participants to help them exactly where their needs are. Access to our extensive regional and global network creates contacts with potential customers, business partners and investors.

The program is not aimed at newly founded startups that need support in their initial phase. Scale-up.NRW is a scaling program for already successful start-ups from NRW that are just before or are already in a phase of rapid growth and change.
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The program thus focuses on the typical challenges of fast-growing start-ups. This includes scaling their business model internationally, expanding the management team and implementing far-reaching organizational changes as well as significantly increasing financial requirements.

We have built a three-tier mentoring model of lead mentors, successful founders and subject matter experts. The focus is on the needs of participating start-ups. In an initial phase, the individualized scaling path is developed in a deep dive, followed by the appropriate matching of a lead mentor by the program team.

In order to qualify for the Scale-up.NRW program, your company must above all have scaling potential. In addition, your company must have a registered office in NRW and be registered with one of the following legal forms: UG, AG, GmbH, GmbH & Co. KG. In addition, your start-up is preferably not older than 10 years and you have already successfully completed a financing round.
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You're perfect for the program if...
... you have an exceptional and diverse (founding) team that covers all competencies and important positions. Your start-up has at least 15 employees.
... you've found your product-market fit. You are no longer in pure project business, but have an ongoing product business with a solid number of customers.
... their sufficient growth capital through completed financing (≥ €1 million) and own sales (≥ €0.5 million per year).
... you have the ambition to scale and internationalize.

The program is aimed exclusively at companies that have their headquarters in NRW.

Definitely! The nationality of the founder (s) has no influence on our selection. As long as your company meets our selection criteria and is based in NRW, you are welcome to apply.

Join our waitlist for Batch #5.

After we have collected the data about your startup from the application form, our program team evaluates all applications using a scorecard based on the predefined selection criteria. We handle your data with great care. You are not required to provide information about the details of your proprietary solution. In order to be able to assess whether you fit into our program, our selection committee needs information about your business development, funding status, and market opportunities.
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A short list of starups is drawn up from the list of all applications, whose management teams are then interviewed in a second step by the program team, mentors and experts. Finally, a jury of recognized scaling experts and top mentors will select the 10-14 start-ups that will be included in the batch.