Berlin is a world-famous cultural and creative city with great potential that is unique in Germany. The ICT, media and creative sectors are among Berlin’s biggest economic sectors and are characterised by a large number of highly specialised SMEs and a lively start-up scene: digital-bb.de
Business Expertise
Many artists, creatives and cultural workers don’t like the challenge of having to market their own creative work. This is especially the case when it comes to business or tax matters. But the vast majority of players in the cultural and creative economy are self-employed. The BMWi Portal www.kultur-kreativ-wirtschaft.de has collected everything you need to bear in mind for self-employment.
Information and Advice
- Future Project
The Future Project (Projekt Zukunft) is an excellent first point of call for founders in the creative sector. The initiative of the Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe provides a lot of useful information for the creative sector – for example, about the start-up scene in Berlin and the individual partial markets in the creative sector (such as music or advertising) – events, funding, workshops, contacts and lots more.
- Creative Sector Advice Berlin
The Kreativwirtschaftsberatung Berlin (Creative Sector Advice Berlin) offers free advice and information to Berlin freelancers and creative entrepreneurs. From start-up project to existing company, creative self-employed people are supported by a range of free, personal consulting services. Creative Sector Advice also offers information events on subjects and developments relevant to the sector as well as workshops. Kreativwirtschaftsberatung Berlin is part of Kreativ Kultur Berlin – the Berliner Beratungszentrum für Kulturförderung und Kreativwirtschaft – and an offering of Kulturprojekte Berlin.
- Creative City Berlin
The Creative City Berlin portal is also specialised in Berlin’s creative scene. Up-to-date information on funding, workshops, events, jobs and much more are offered on the platform for the creative sector to provide active support for the creative start-up scene in Berlin.
- IGP-Funding program for non-technical innovations
With the IGP-Program, the BMWK has been offering since 2019 a new pilot funding for non-technical innovations. There are various rounds of tenders for specific subject areas, such as digital and data-driven business models, innovations in the cultural and creative industries and innovations with a special “social impact”.