Fundraising Workshop

Over €2 billion in EU funding is available to startups and SMEs every year, yet startups in the German ecosystem remain underrepresented because the landscape is genuinely hard to navigate.
Horizon Europe and cascade funding mechanisms were specifically designed to de-risk early-stage innovation. But without knowing where to look, which instrument fits your stage, and how application pathways actually work, the opportunity is invisible.
This session cuts through the complexity so you leave knowing exactly where to start.

Meet Your Hosts
Mona Marie Bielig is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz and Seeburg Castle University. Her work focuses on how behavioral science and psychology can contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation. She is currently involved in two EU-funded projects and has more than five years of experience with Horizon Europe projects, including both project implementation and proposal writing, directly working in and co-leading multidisciplinary teams of startups and research institutes.
Emily Bringmann is a doctoral researcher in social sciences at Seeburg Castle University. Her research focuses on the development and implementation of AI solutions that support a successful energy transition. She is currently involved in two EU-funded projects that include cascade funding opportunities for SMEs, giving her practical insight into how startups and smaller companies can access EU funding and maximize its value for their own growth, innovation capacity, and market development.

What We'll Cover
How Horizon Europe funding instruments are structured and what that means for startups
What cascade funding is and how it flows from large EU projects to smaller innovators
How many of these instruments go beyond financial support, offering business mentoring and other non-financial benefits alongside funding
How to identify open calls relevant to your sector and technology
What a strong application looks like and common pitfalls to avoid
Where to find support and who the key intermediaries are

What You'll Walk Away With
By the end of this session, participants will leave with:
✅ A clear map of the Horizon Europe funding landscape and where startups fit in
✅ A practical framework for identifying relevant calls and cascade funding opportunities
✅ Knowledge of the application pathway: what's required, what's evaluated, and what to prepare
✅ Actionable next steps to assess your own eligibility and find the right entry point