Twenty-nine students took part in the intensive course, and each one successfully developed an inspiring purpose-driven concept.

The program culminated in a pitch day for five of the ventures, as selected by the whole cohort. Of these five, three were declared winners by a panel of industry experts. Let’s take a look at the winning concepts.

[Read more: Embracing change as opportunity: Startup Guide joins forces with KAOSPILOT+ Berlin]

Personable sustainable development app Froot rewards users for responsible consumption. Founder Alex Arquati is a graduate of Hyper Island Business School and is based in Stockholm, Sweden. He explains, “I grew up in Cornwall, UK, one of the poorest regions in Europe, and took my first job in a hotel kitchen. This was where I got a passion for food waste. I remember being frustrated with people for not finishing their food, thinking what a waste of resources it was when people were starving. But I soon realized I was not perfect either. That was when I started informing myself and educating others. My dream was, and still is, to co-create a culture of sustainability.”

Froot helps consumers track their food usage and waste, and offers rewards to encourage low waste production. Its long-term model is to partner with governments to provide tax incentives for responsible consumers.

“I believe that sustainability is too abstract for people. It needs to be more tangible so people can relate and make the changes we need in this world,” Alex says. “Too often our mindset is to rely on somebody else to fix our problems, or at least guide us to where we need to be. This is why Froot is being developed. It’s a simple platform that rewards people for being more sustainable. It’s a platform where there is not only an environmental incentive to adjust behaviors, but also a social and financial incentive to do things differently.”

Froot has been selected for the second round of Startup Climate Action, a challenge-driven initiative led by Sting and Norrsken. It is currently seeking funding for alpha testing.

COSTER is a project-focused platform that matches startups and corporate partners. Founder Anna Drewitz works in innovation and strategy for the Lufthansa Group in Frankfurt. She explains that COSTER “brings together corporates that are stuck in their silo-driven and common structures with startups and entrepreneurs in a match-making setting, just like Tinder.” 

Users pay a one-time fee or purchase a subscription to the app, then indicate what skills and services they are looking for or providing. The platform matches complementary ventures and allows the potential partners to discuss details. If they agree to work together, COSTER takes care of the contracts and charges the corporate partner a project fee. Its business model includes donating a percentage of its profits to the local startup ecosystem.

“COSTER creates true and impactful innovations by bringing together skilled, inspired and motivated people,” Anna says. “It creates a win-win situation as corporates achieve more creative and efficient outcomes and startups receive the opportunity to learn, connect, apply their skills and potentially market their products.”

COSTER aims to launch in Germany and is seeking seed funding for app development and legal advice.

Saskia Ivana Aufenacker is a psychologist based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She presented an intervention program for educational, governmental and business institutions to promote mentalization and sustainability, using a psychoeducational and eco-educational approach.

She explains that people who understand the moral and empathic reasons behind their actions tend to have a more sustainable lifestyle, and that most educational programs on sustainability do not take into consideration our everyday emotions and habits. Further, people who mentalize their actions also help other people to consider the mental state that underlies their behaviors, creating a snowball or chain effect.

“The aim of this project is to create a one-day mentalization-based intervention to promote mentalization behind and towards sustainable actions and a sustainable lifestyle,” Saskia says. “We hope to promote the understanding of how our actions, beliefs and mental states affect ourselves, others and the environment. In the end, we all live together in the same home, Earth, and we need to learn how to take care of it and each other.”

The program consists of mentalization-based interventions as well as pre- and post- measures to evaluate its effectiveness and how the learnings are maintained over time. Each intervention will be tailored to the specific institution and demographics of the participants. Example topics include “How littering and recycling affect me, my direct community and the world” and “How the choices of what I buy impact my community and the environment.”

The initial program will be led by the research team Equipo IPCP and a pilot study at the Alier paper recycling plant in Lleida, Spain is planned.

Are you inspired to develop your own purpose-driven venture? Keep an eye on KAOSPILOT+ Berlin for upcoming programs to help make your vision a reality.