Manifesto · Nine sentences

The best startup is already 40 years old.

We want to strengthen Germany. With founders who continue what others have built.

What wasWhat will be
  1. 01

    Germany is its Mittelstand.

    The workshop in the next town, the supplier in the industrial park, the business that has been training people for three generations. This is where what sustains this country is created. We want to preserve that. And we want to move it forward. According to research from KfW (Germany's state development bank), around 569,000 small and mid-sized companies plan to simply close by the end of 2029. Each of them is an employer, a training company, a part of its community. We will not accept that.

  2. 02

    Entrepreneurial spirit also belongs in existing businesses.

    We need new startups. We also need people who join existing companies with courage and speed. When you take over, you are founding. With customers, a team and cash flow from day one. You do not have to invent anything from scratch. You get a foundation and turn it into the next chapter.

  3. 03

    Preserve what works.

    Startups and innovation are important for this country. What is already there and works every day is just as important. Not every business has a future, that is part of being honest. But many still have great potential that no one is tapping into because a successor is missing. This is exactly the potential we want to unlock.

  4. 04

    Now is the right time.

    AI and new tools make many things that used to take years much easier. Processes become leaner, decisions faster, knowledge stays in the company. If you take over now, you can make a healthy business much more efficient. The substance is there: products, customers, experience. What is often missing are new tools and someone to use them.

  5. 05

    We get founders ready for the takeover.

    Nachfounder is a programme like an accelerator, built for businesses that already exist. We bring successors and owners together, prepare both sides and stick around when things get serious. Not an M&A consultancy. A programme for people who want to carry on.

  6. 06

    More women into succession.

    In the last ten years, the proportion of female successors in Germany has been between 21 and 23 per cent, most recently at 21 per cent. That is not enough. We specifically target women, build networks and ensure that they are visible in every round. Source: wir Magazin

  7. 07

    Respect for what was.

    Behind every business is a life's work. We handle it calmly and discreetly. Whoever hands over should know that it will continue in good hands. We listen before we change anything.

  8. 08

    Taking over is a craft. You can learn it.

    Valuation, financing, negotiation, the first hundred days. Nobody is born knowing how to do this. We teach it, in a group of people who are on the same path. You learn from those who have already done it.

  9. 09

    We measure our success by the businesses that live on.

    Not by clicks, not by deals on paper. In the end, what counts is whether the business is still there in five years, whether the team has stayed, and whether it is in a stronger position than before.

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Found a business without starting from scratch.

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For successorsI want to take overYou want to get started as an entrepreneur.For ownersI am looking for a successorYou want to pass on your life's work. Start with the Succession check.