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03/17/2022 | Pressemitteilung

Smart Ideas for Kassel" crowdfunding campaign

Digital transformation is one of the key future issues for the city of Kassel. How can new technologies be meaningfully integrated into everyday life? How can social interaction be promoted as a result? How can we make urban spaces fit for the future? And what does that mean for living, working and getting around in the city? On its way to becoming a smart city, the city of Kassel is intensively addressing these and other questions. Now there is a special funding opportunity for projects that want to work on this.

Image: City of Kassel.
The city of the future is smart. The campaign is looking for participants who want to implement their ideas through crowdfunding.

In order to promote projects and ideas that provide answers to the questions of tomorrow's city, UniKasselTransfer, Wirtschaftsförderung Region Kassel GmbH and the city of Kassel are launching UNIKAT Crowdfunding 2022, a campaign under the motto Smart City. The initiators are targeting innovative projects that develop new and digital solutions for urban society.

Mayor Christian Geselle: "We are working together to shape the city of tomorrow in the areas of work and education, life, housing and culture, energy and the environment, and mobility. In doing so, we want to explore the possibilities of digital technologies and use them in a targeted manner - for a transformation toward a sustainable and livable city for all. As a smart city, Kassel wants to act in the interests of its people. Our goal is to make everyday life easier and better."

Innovative ideas wanted

Interested stakeholders who want to plan and implement a project in these thematic areas can apply for the Smart City crowdfunding campaign. The spectrum of content is deliberately broad, whether teams contribute to climate and resource protection through the use of smart technologies, develop new formats of citizen participation, promote the digital participation of older people or revolutionize energy supply and mobility, they can all participate. The important thing is that new technologies are used and that they are put at the service of people.

Small initiatives, projects and associations are just as welcome as start-ups or companies. Interested parties can apply for the Smart City campaign from March 17 to June 2, 2022. To do so, applicants submit their projects on the UNIKAT crowdfunding page at Startnext.

After the end of the application phase, the participants will be selected by a jury - consisting of project partners and initiators. The selected projects then prepare their crowdfunding campaigns and receive individual support from UNIKAT.

In summer 2022, the selected teams will simultaneously start their four-week funding phase, during which supporters can invest in the project. At the end of the funding period, the teams will be honored at an award ceremony and the winners of the special prizes will be announced.

Support from companies across the city - with an extra funding pot of 25,000 euros total budget

The Smart City campaign receives support from companies throughout the city. Among those making the crowdfunding campaign possible are Flavia IT-Management GmbH, Kasseler Sparkasse, Städtische Werke AG, Starke + Reichert GmbH & Co. KG and Yatta Solutions GmbH.

Start crowdfunding, receive cofunding and win special prize

The starters who participate in the campaign can expect to win an extra budget from the cofunding provided by the supporters when they crowdfund. The cofunding is 1:1, which means that for every euro raised, the project receives one euro from the cofunding. In addition, four special prizes will be awarded in these categories: Work and Education, Mobility, Energy and Environment, and Life, Housing and Culture. The funding pot for Cofunding and special prizes totals 25,000 euros.

Smart City" model project

The crowdfunding campaign is embedded in the "Smart Cities Model Projects" funding program, for which the city of Kassel was selected by the Federal Ministry of the Interior as one of 32 municipalities nationwide in the second season. In this way, the German government is promoting the digital modernization of municipalities. The goal is to create livable and effective cities, communities and districts that put new technologies at the service of people and overriding public welfare goals. In Kassel, smart technologies are to contribute to increasing the quality of life and location, conserving resources and ensuring greater togetherness and social participation.

UNIKAT crowdfunding

There are numerous good ideas not only at the University of Ideas Kassel, but also in the entire region. In order for these ideas to become reality and develop into successful projects, they need active support. For this reason, UniKasselTransfer has initiated UNIKAT crowdfunding on Startnext in cooperation with Wirtschaftsförderung Region Kassel GmbH.

The page aims to motivate and support projects from the region. Crowdfunding gives projects a platform to present themselves to the public, generate financial support through many individual contributions, and at the same time engage in active marketing. Because crowdfunding is more than just a financing tool, it gives the opportunity to publicly promote the project, to expand the network and to test how the project idea is received by others.

UNIKAT Crowdfunding is the first crowdfunding website in Germany initiated by a university. It offers project starters from a wide range of fields the opportunity to present their ideas and to finance them with the help of numerous supporters.

More information, all conditions of participation and the application form for the Smart City Crowdfunding campaign can be found at www.unikat-crowdfunding.de.

Contact:

Ann-Sophie Bleise-Hankel
University of Kassel
UniKasselTransfer
Email: bleise[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
Tel. 0561 804 7543 
www.unikat-crowdfunding.de