CONTENTshift accelerator 2022: Five startups in the final round

Through the CONTENTshift accelerator, the Börsenverein Group promotes innovative business models in the book industry. A total of 39 startups qualified for the accelerator and after the preliminary round with ten companies, the CONTENTshift jury has now selected five finalists for the programme after a pitch event in Frankfurt. They will gain access to a top-class network of investors as well as startup and industry experts from the book and media industry. They will also receive coaching and participate in a co-creation workshop to review their business models and explore current challenges and cooperation opportunities. During the Frankfurt Book Fair, on 20 October, the jury will then select the "Startup of the Year", which will be awarded 10,000 euros in funding.

These five startups are now in the final:

• ACTitude offers easy-to-understand, online psychological courses based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), providing skills that can be immediately applied. The individual learning paths, exercises and small prompts are intended to support their users in staying calm, even when faced with emotionally challenging everyday situations.
• Enna simplifies the use of digital applications, such as video calls or digital photo albums for elderly people or people with disabilities: The uncomplicated operating concept simply consists of a docking station and different cards for the action the user wants to perform. As soon as the card is placed on the docking station, the application is started – without a touch display or complicated menu navigation.
• Heimsafari offers treasure hunts for children – combining analogue hiding places with app-based puzzles and adventures. Parents can print out the puzzle pages available online, hide them in the flat, house or garden and take photos of their hiding places. The children then search for the places depicted in the photos and are guided through the adventure in the app while they do so.
• Immer.App is designed to encourage us, also in digital form, to read more, for longer and more enjoyably. The app optimises books for mobile phones or tablets according to the user’s behaviour. This is done, for example, by means of a position indicator, which makes it clear to readers where they are in the digital text – or also by portioning the texts into smaller sections that are easy to absorb and indicating which section would fit exactly into the duration of the next train journey.
• QuizCo converts existing documents, such as texts, into high-quality learning materials such as quizzes, cloze tests and flashcards at the touch of a button. Users receive content that is individually tailored to them and teachers save time and money in the creation of motivating learning materials with a gamification factor.

Jury spokesperson Stefanie Penck (TeNeues Verlag) says: "All five startups have a significant underlying idea in common: their business models offer solutions for today's users, who primarily search for or become aware of offerings online via platforms. The finalists are opening up opportunities for our industry to be involved with content in the online market without having to make ourselves dependent on the well-known platform giants. The range of business ideas is as wide as it is refreshing. They address the most diverse needs of the clients. And at the same time, all the founders are – just as our industry – united through their understanding and passion for all facets of the special experience that books provide.”

The Accelerator programme is sponsored by companies from the book and media industry, which send members to the CONTENTshift jury. This year's jury includes: Detlef Büttner and Leif Göritz (Lehmanns Media/Thalia Bookstore), Olaf Carstens (Cornelsen Publishing House), Stephan Dietrich (Junfermann Publishing House), Nina Hugendubel and Per Dalheimer (Hugendubel Bookstore), Stefanie Penck (TeNeues Publishing House), Wolfgang Pichler (MANZ Publishing House and Bookstore), Ronald Schild (MVB), Peter Kraus vom Cleff (Börsenverein) as well as Deepa Gautam-Nigge (SAP Next-Gen Innovation Network) as a partner of the programme from outside the industry.

More information about the programme schedule: www.contentshift.de/en/accelerator/procedure

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Twitter: @ShiftingContent
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About the Börsenverein Group
The Börsenvereinsgruppe (Group of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association) represents the interests of Germany's book industry and provides its members with advisory and practical services. The group comprises the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e. V. (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) and its business subsidiaries, which include Frankfurter Buchmesse MVB, Mediacampus Frankfurt as well as the Holding Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Beteiligungsgesellschaft. The Börsenvereinsgruppe supports the book industry and media sector by providing professional services that include advocacy, the organisation of cultural projects, tradeshows, training programmes and publishing and technology services.