Startup Port’s Meet&Match format brings together ambitious founders who are looking for co-founders. For example, Karen Löhnert and Alberts Spoģis found each other and together they developed gloop.green – a platform that rewards sustainable behaviour and creates a community for environmentally conscious people and companies. Through targeted preparation and personal discussions, Meet&Match created a framework in which ideas can fall on fertile ground. A success story by Mohammad Omar Urdu.
In a world where sustainability is becoming increasingly important, we at Startup Port brought Karen and Alberts together through the Meet&Match format. They are now working together on gloop.green, a B2B2C platform that rewards sustainable behaviour and creates a community for environmentally conscious people and companies.
The initial situation: two paths, one goal
Karen had already developed the basic idea for gloop.green – a green loyalty programme that promotes sustainable behaviour. However, she lacked a co-founder with skills after two co-founders had to drop out.
Alberts, on the other hand, was open to new start-up ideas in the field of digitalisation and sustainability. The Meet&Match event brought the two together.
“I didn’t have any great expectations,” recalls Karen. “But the format, where you can choose who you want to talk to, made me curious.” Alberts adds: “I never thought I would actually meet someone I would work with in the long term. But that’s exactly what happened!”
Meet&Match: the stage for sustainable innovations
The kick-off event in December 2023 created a relaxed atmosphere for the first contact. Karen presented her idea in a 3-minute pitch, which Alberts found particularly memorable: “The concept stood out and addressed a problem on a much larger scale than other start-up ideas.”
In the 7-minute conversation that followed, Karen and Alberts quickly realised that they were on the same wavelength. “There was an instant connection,” Karen recalls. They discussed not only the business idea, but also personal values and potential roles in the team.
From meeting to partnership: the phases of getting to know each other
The other phases of the Meet&Match format gave them time to get to know each other better. Between the holidays, they met in person and realised that their values and goals were aligned. “It’s a journey you embark on together,” emphasises Karen. “Albert’s reliability and seriousness won me over.”
Collaboration milestones: Founders Bay’s Impact Accelerator and the Google Venture Sprint
A milestone in their collaboration was their participation in Founders Bay’s six-month Impact Accelerator programme. In addition, the team won a 5-day Google Venture Sprint, which helped them solve complex problems, develop a click dummy for the front end of the app and sharpen their vision for gloop.green.
Looking back: The role of Meet&Match
Looking back, both praise the Meet&Match format. “The preparation phase with the profiles was very helpful,” says Alberts. Karen adds: “The format brings you together in a more targeted way than classic networking. It creates a framework, but the magic happens between the people.”
gloop.green today: vision becomes reality
Today, Karen and Alberts are successfully working on the realisation of gloop.green. Their vision: a platform that rewards sustainable behaviour, connects companies and consumers and makes a positive contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Meet&Match format not only brought two co-founders together, but also laid the foundation for a start-up that could make the world a little more sustainable. It shows how important it is to bring the right people together – because ideas only become successful companies when the chemistry in the founding team is right.
Compact info on Meet&Match
Target group:
Groups and/or individuals with a start-up idea
Individuals with a desire/interest in founding a company, but without a concrete idea
This offer is primarily aimed at members of the network organisations. We are also happy to allocate free places to other people from the Hamburg metropolitan region or beyond who are interested in founding a company.
Format:
Matchmaking
Start:
3-4 times a year
Duration:
Individual process lasting several weeks for each matchmaking round (depends on the respective matchmaking team)
Costs:
Free of charge
Meet&Match continues on 21 November 2024: As part of Female Entrepreneurship Week, there will also be a Female Entrepreneurship Edition of Meet&Match. Dear women – come with your ideas: The stage is yours! Men are welcome to register for this round as start-up enthusiasts without their own idea. Because the more diverse the teams, the better the outcome!
