Our mission: Help you to become an entrepreneur: We are going to show you, how the way from an innovative business idea to a successful start-up looks like!
The StartGlocal Academy workshop program is open for students and/or alumni of the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. It is an ideal opportunity for you to acquire the know-how necessary for the development of your innovative idea into a start-up business.
The StartGlocal Academy will help you to develop and to validate your business model in an interactive working environment. During the StartGlocal Academy, experts on various business topics are going to accompany your team and teach you all the key competencies needed for a successful start of your business. StartGlocal Academy is a series of workshops covering a range of interconnected topics.

First step: Start!
Founding a start-up is often associated with many challenges. If you have a business idea, be courageous and bring it to life! Learn in our StartGlocal Academy, what it means to build your own company!
Learn, what it means to be a real entrepreneur!
The StartGlocal Academy will teach you all the important business basics necessary for the development of your innovative idea into a promising business model.

Components of the Academy
A series of interactive workshops in English language
The StartGlocal Academy is a workshop program, during which our experts will support you with start-up and entrepreneurship know-how, including knowledge about following topics:
- Creativity techniques for the idea generation
- Entrepreneurial skills & team
- Business Model Canvas and business model development
- Value Proposition Design
- Prototyping
- Market, competition and customer analysis as the basics for the marketing plan
- Marketing & Sales
- Business and financial planning
- Legal forms of companies and tax requirements
- Property Rights
- Presentation skills for a convincing pitch
Additional working sessions
Here you have time to meet as a team, as well as to exchange ideas with the other teams and the start-up coach.

Teamwork
You can apply alone or as a team for the StartGlocal Academy. We advice you to apply as a team with the interdisciplinary competence of team members, as it enhances the chance for the success of your start-up business. The maximum number of team members should not exceed five.
You will work on your submitted innovative start-up idea in a team during the whole workshop program. If you are applying alone, there will be an opportunity to team-up with others during the StartGlocal Academy. Moreover, also new team members from the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, can join your team during the StartGlocal Academy, after the consultation with the StartGlocal team.
The work in interdisciplinary and international teams gives you an opportunity to acquire valuable communication and teamwork skills that you can apply either at our final event Demo Day or also later in your professional life.
Access to a wide range of study materials
Moreover, you will get an access to a Moodle course with the content from all workshops and other exciting information provided by experts and the StartGlocal team.
Network
A participation in the StartGlocal Academy offers you numerous opportunities to network with different stakeholders and mentors. In our final event DEMO DAY you will get the chance to pitch your start-up idea in front of a jury and win special prizes.
We are also going to organise regular informal Start-up Community Meet-ups, to which you and your team are cordially invited.
Pitch competition on final event DEMO DAY with cool prizes
The Demo Day is the final event of the StartGlocal Academy, which is going to take place at the end of the workshop program. On the Demo Day, your team will be given the opportunity to pitch your start-up idea and a prototype in front of a jury.
The three best start-up ideas will be awarded a StartGlocal trophy.
The team with the best start-up idea is going to win a ticket for the next Best Idea Cup!
Six reasons to participate in the StartGlocal Academy!
Valuable contacts and experience
Online workshop program worth 12.000 €
Certificate
Start-up package worth 100€
Ticket for the BEST IDEA CUP 2023
Trophy
Check out the workshop program of the past StartGlocal Academy
Kick-off: Ideate & Network
Develop wild ideas that fascinate you AND the world
- Get to know how to create innovative start-up ideas that the world really wants
- Learn about the criteria you will need for a sucessful business idea
- Practice how to develop your idea (further)
- Get to know eachother and network in interdisciplinary teams
Trust yourself that you can do it!
Entrepreneurial Skills & Team
What it means to be a real entrepreneur
- Get to know your personality profile and get personally prepared for being an entrepreneur
- Reflect on you entrepreneurial skills and find out what may be your strengths and weakneses building your own business
- Learn how to build a high-performance team that rocks its business
Business Model Generation
Make your dreams turn into plans
- Gain insight into how a working business model is built by looking at real examples of working business models
- Develop a functioning business model out of your business ideas by using business model canvas
- Receive feedback from an expert for your business models and use this feedback to develop your business idea
- Find potential ways of how to make your ideas fly
Value Proposition Design
How to really excite your customers for your product
- Define your target group using the “persona” concept and understand the wishes and needs of your customers
- Learn, how to generate a targeted customer approach for your start-up company
- Find out, how to communicate the value of your product and how to “sell” it to potential customers
Prototyping
Let’s prototype! Give your wild ideas a shape
- Give your business idea a physical shape: Develop a draft of your product, which you can show to potential investors or customers
- Learn, how to build a prototype that shows your business idea but doesn’t reveal too much
- Learn, how to deal with customer feedback and use the feedback loop for possible improvements of your product
- Have fun building your own prototype!
- Special: Virtual live tour through the FabLab in Kamp-Lintfort on 03.11.21
Market Research & Idea Validation
Determine the right market for your idea
- Get to know market research tools to analyze the (relevant) market
- Apply techniques to validate your own start-up idea
- Gain skills in dealing with customer feedback in order to use it for improvements of your own idea
Marketing & Sales
No budget for marketing? No problem!
- Gain the necessary skills for the development of strategies for an optimal approach to customers and cooperation partners
- Find the right offline and online PR and communication strategies for your start-up
- Brain beats budget: Learn about guerrilla marketing, low-budget marketing and zero-budget marketing
- Experience a novel online collaboration board for optimal communication in your team
Business Planning I
Build a professional plan for your business!
- Get to know the relevance and the essential components of a business plan
- Practice working on the business plan under supervision using your own business idea
- Receive feedback and valuable tips for the successful business planning of your business start-up
Business Planning II
Build a professional plan for your business!
- Practice creating a financial plan for your own business idea, as a part of the business plan
- Find out, what financing and funding opportunities are available for you as a start-up founder
Legal forms & Taxes for Start-ups
Legal information that your start-up REALLY needs!
- Get to know all relevant legal basics for setting up your start-up business
- Our expert will help you to choose the legal form that suits your business idea
- Get to know all tax-law basics and regulations relevant for students starting up a company
- Practise filling out forms such as questionnaire for the tax registration
- Receive tips on bookkeeping and learn how to fill in a tax declaration as a business start-up founder on practical examples
Intellectual Property Rights for Start-ups
How to protect your start-up idea
- Learn about the most important ways to protect your own start-up idea
- Gain insight into patent law, copyright law, etc.
- Practice how to check already protected ideas to prevent infringements
- Get tips & tricks on how to choose the appropriate protection for your own start-up idea
- Develop an appropriate protection strategy for your idea
Pitch & Presentation
Ready, steady, pitch!
- Prepare for the pitch of your start up idea on the DEMO DAY
- Learn about the most important presentation methods, do’s and don’ts and choose the method that best suits your start-up idea
- Gain more confidence in your presentation through practical exercises
- Take important tips for your future investor meetings
DEMO DAY Pitch Batch
Pitch your start-up idea at our final event DEMO DAY!
The jury votes for the 3 best start-up ideas!
More information
Contact us, if you have any questions regarding the StartGlocal Academy. We will be glad to help you.