Berlin is the center of Germany's start-up scene. That's why, in December 2014, the Master of Law and Business class spent three days in our nation's capital to discover best practices and different business models of successful start-ups.
First up was ZenCap Connect GmbH, a digital lending marketplace for medium-sized companies in Germany. A short company presentation was followed by a workshop on how to use an online tool to provide a platform where investors and companies in the private financial market can connect with each other quickly and easily. Next up was the HitFox Group, a venture capital company and current employer of the two MLB alumni, Elif Kocaoglu and David Koch, where the students learned how venture capital companies work and what makes a successful business model. In the afternoon, the class had the pleasure of visiting EyeEm, where co-founder Lorenz Aschoff explained the connection between the idea of creating a platform where non-professional photographers can share their pictures and a business model of selling authentic pictures for marketing campaigns.
The impressions from the start-up and venture capital companies were rounded up by a panel discussion in which. Dr. Marc-Olivier Lücke, Venture Partner at Atlantic Internet, Dr. Birte Gall, Managing Director of the Berlin School of Digital Business and Mr. Fabio Bacigalupo, Local Representative of the Federal Association of German Start-Ups e.V. discussed the pros and cons of the start-up scene and the idea of venture capital as well as possible future trends in this market.