Berlin refugee-entrepreneur business incubator Ideas in Motion has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help make the program a permanent fixture.

The five month program for newcomers in Germany – entrepreneurs who have come to Germany as a refugee or seeking asylum - started with a pilot program with eight entrepreneurs, starting March 1 and ending at the end of July.

The crowdfunding campaign, which is part of the Deutscher Integrationspreis competition, will lock down funding to make the program permanent rather than a one-off.

The incubator was co-created through a human-centered design process with newcomer entrepreneurs to identify their key challenges and design a program that would best enable their success. The five key elements are concept and business model design, the business academy, professional mentoring, expert network and startup community, and German legal and funding advice.

These services will be delivered through two to three weekly workshops that we hold with the participants, or through one-on-one meetups or other events.

The pilot round has taken ideas from an online university offering blended learning to a medical tourism business and an urban fashion label.

Feature image via Ideas in Motion.