Science & Startups

AI NATION Grant & Accelerator Applications Are Open Two funding tracks for AI-driven founders are now open until August 9, 2026. AI NATION GRANT – for early-stage AI teams still shaping problem-solution fit ✅ Up to €54,000 equity-free funding ✅ Coaching, mentorship, ecosystem access ✅ Workspace in Munich and Berlin AI NATION ACCELERATOR – for AI startups moving toward market launch or production readiness ✅ Six months, tailored growth support ✅ Expert mentorship and exclusive networks ✅ Representative office space 📅 Deadline: August 9, 2026 🔗 Apply: https://lnkd.in/dW62wQRc #AI #Startups #CfA

Issue #2 of our newsletter is out. This time we take a look at one of our current Berliner Startup Stipendium teams, this month's 100/100 winners, and three open calls closing soon: BSS Batch III (Aug 3), AI NATION Grant & Accelerator (Aug 9), and xG-Incubator (Aug 17). Subscribe to get it straight to your feed every two weeks. 💚

🔍 What if the studies behind a scientific claim didn't actually say what the paper claimed? Every researcher who has ever used an AI tool knows this feeling: the faster you move, the less you can trust what ends up in your citations. Lilli discovered this while writing her master's thesis at Stanford. She was building a detailed simulation of retinal neurons and needed precise numbers from existing research. When she traced cited figures back to their original sources, she found errors everywhere. ❌ Numbers that didn't match. ❌ Sources that referenced different species entirely. ❌ One source that didn't exist at all. These errors had passed peer review. Not because reviewers were careless, but because verifying every single reference manually is simply too slow for humans to do at scale. CiteLM is Lilli's and Constantin's answer to that tension. An AI tool that checks whether the studies a scientist cites actually say what the scientist claims. They built this for journals, open access platforms, research labs and, of course, universities. Currently the co-founders are running pilots with institutional customers ahead of launch. Lili is in San Francisco at the moment for YCombinator Startup School (that's why she's not in the picture!) while Constantin holds down operations in Berlin. So it's only fair, that our 100 to 100 prize money is going toward a proper dinner together when she's back. They are both winners of our #100to100 idea competition. 100 words. 100 euros. One idea that helps science trust its own sources again. 💚 Your idea doesn't need to be finished. It needs to be articulated. 👉 Submit anytime — link in comments.

Last call before Batch III closes. If you want to apply to Berliner Startup Stipendium Batch III, your initial consultation needs to have taken place by July 31. Not just booked, but held. With slots filling up, that means booking now, not waiting until the deadline. Working on solutions for energy, water, mobility, digital infrastructure — or critical systems we haven't thought of yet? 📅 Consultation must take place by: July 31 📅 Application deadline: August 3, 12:00 noon 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ek7RS3kz 🔹Berliner Startup Stipendium is funded by the Europäischen Sozialfonds and the Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe.

The startup scene only gets heard if it speaks. 💚 Every year, the Startup-Verband publishes the German Startup Monitor to showcase the most important source of facts, figures, and trends about startups in Germany. For media, policymakers and everyone shaping our ecosystem. But the Monitor only reflects what founders actually report. No input, no picture. If that's not enough, here are three more reasons to take 5 minutes to complete the survey: ✅ Your answers reach decision-makers, not a drawer. The DSM is one of the few channels where startup realities land directly in policy conversations. ✅ The data shapes the narrative of where the ecosystem struggles, where it thrives, what it needs. That only works if the scene shows up. ✅ Visibility for what you build every day — innovation and entrepreneurship that moves us all forward deserves to be counted. 🔗 Take part here: https://lnkd.in/djxpdvDJ

This is what it looks like when a team that spends its days thinking about stress signals takes a break in the garden of our Startup Villa. Meet Vanessa, Eunji and Niccolò, the team behind Healura. "I'm fine" is often the biggest lie we tell ourselves. Stress builds invisibly, until it doesn't. For any individuals and caregivers, that invisible buildup means reacting to a crisis instead of preventing one. Healura is building technology that reads rising stress before it becomes visible in two ways: Numi is a device for caregivers to use at home, and KairOS is a white-label version clinics, research institutes and partner companies can build into their own programs. Same technology, two channels. The team joined Berliner Startup Stipendium in April. Since then Niccolò joined as a new team member and the idea of Healura itself has sharpened, with new verticals added along the way. What surprised them most: how open everyone at Science & Startups is: Teams sharing tips with each other, mentors easy to reach, people willing to lend a hand without being asked twice. Although not everything is as easy as connecting within the network. Right now, recruiting neurodivergent pilot participants is proving harder than expected, and the hardware still needs to get leaner and smaller before it's ready. Their advice for teams still hesitating to apply is simple: apply anyway. The program doesn't wait for you to have it all figured out first, it helps you figure it out. Right now, that means gearing up to run their pilot and heading into their pre-seed round. 💚 🔹 Berliner Startup Stipendium is funded by the @Europäischen Sozialfonds and the @Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe. #ScienceAndStartups #BerlinerStartupStipendium #Startup #Berlin

☕ What if paying for your coffee could mean someone else gets to stay too? One in six people in Germany lives in poverty. Most of them are invisible. Single parents, people in between jobs, people who simply can't afford the places where everyone else meets. Maximilian, an alumnus of Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde, watched how homeless people were treated when they asked for food. The rejection was immediate. And public. He wanted something different. ZweiMahl - Gutes Essen für Alle is a simple mechanism: when you pay, you can add a coffee or a meal for someone else. They redeem it with a single codeword. No form. No explanation needed. Just: ZweiMahl. Currently Maximilian is piloting his project in Brandenburg and Berlin, expanding to more cafés and restaurants. One of our #100to100 winners. 100 words. 100 euros. One idea that turns a everyday moment into an act of solidarity. 💚 Your idea doesn't need to be finished. It needs to be articulated. 👉 Submit anytime — link in comments.

We're excited to welcome Marienpark Berlin as our partner for Batch III.   As Berlin's Resilience Technology Campus, Marienpark Berlin brings something rare to the table: real infrastructure for testing and scaling resilience technologies. We're talking about secure data centers and testbeds on land, water and air. For founding teams working on "Strengthening Resilience of Critical Infrastructure," that's not just a partnership on paper — it's access to an environment built exactly for this kind of work. Batch III founders can look forward to direct exchange with the Marienpark community and its growing network of resilience-focused organizations. Applications are open until August 3. Consultations are mandatory before applying. Last slot July 31 👉 https://lnkd.in/ek7RS3kz Berliner Startup Stipendium is funded by the Europäischer Sozialfonds (ESF) and the Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe.

#Hiring – Wir suchen eine:n neue:n AI Driven Data Manager*in - Beschäftigte*r mit abgeschl. wiss. Hochschulbildung - 90 % Arbeitszeit in Berlin. Bewerben Sie sich noch heute oder teilen Sie diese Stellenanzeige mit Ihrem Netzwerk.

We asked 22 founders what stops startups from succeeding in West Africa. The answer had nothing to do with product. Our value proposition at Science & Startups is to act as a global go-to-hub for entrepreneurs and innovators, which is exactly why we were asked by the German Accelerator to lead a workshop segment on "Understanding the West African market: Opportunities in Nigeria and Ghana". We were particularly pleased to hear that the insights given by our Head of Startup Consultancy, Dauaride Empere, were highly appreciated by the 22 partaking startups. The founders appreciated the hands-on perspective and practical insights into market entry, local realities and the opportunities as well as challenges they should prepare for when considering expansion into West Africa. Things for founders to keep in mind: 1. Never enter the market alone 2. Think beyond technology and start with the problem 3. Build for resilience, not perfection 4. Co-create instead of copy-paste 5. Build communities, not just customers It was a great afternoon at "Kickstart Global Mindset Activation – Your Gateway to West Africa!" A big thank you to the German Accelerator for putting together such a diverse agenda alongside insightful fellow speakers in a fantastic venue at the Africa Verein. We look forward to further creating this enabling environment for founders. West Africa offers tremendous opportunities for those willing to listen first, learn continuously and build in partnership with local ecosystems. Thank you, German Accelerator and to Mira Kadirkhanova, Corinna Martin, Niklas Linss, Marie-Claire Bartmann, Khadi Camara & Mary Njeri. #GlobalMindset #WestAfrica #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Internationalisation #Startups #Ghana #Nigeria