We are building an accelerator to wake media industry from it’s innovation freeze.
We are building an Accelerator. “We” means basically the German Press Agency dpa, as we are setting it up right now. Our main objective is not to become a player in the VC business. In fact we love news, we love journalism and we really want them to succeed in the digital world. In order to drive change in the media business we want to launch this accelerator.
As we are a big company, we manage things; so do our shareholders and customers (which both are print and broadcasting driven publishers). We are actually pretty good in managing, we are successful in extending our services to new products and adapting to new markets. However we suck at creating new products in new markets (sorry for this openness).
The plan is to take in a couple of startups each year, which need to focus on content, advertising or services related ideas — and of course they need to be technology driven. These will be mentored, coached and gain access to an interesting, high level network. Our aim is not to make them solve our company’s problems but rather fix a core market problem: media industry innovation pace in Europe, especially in Germany has been slowing down. On some days it feels like being in a coma, paralyzed by news about the next fired editor in chief, the next newsroom being laid off, the next cry for regulations for new economy companies.
We want the Next Media Accelerator to be about community: not only by bringing the teams in one location but especially by connecting them with investors, mentors, coaches and other startups. They all get access to each other creating an international community of forward thinking, media loving people.
The accelerator will be based in Hamburg, which is a major center for the old and new media/advertising industry. Berlin on the other hand with its distinctive startup-ecosystem is just a 90-minute train ride away.
We are in the middle of setting things up, not yet ready to give you details on questions like when, who and how. However we are happy to hear your thoughts on our vision.
How can an accelerator help the media market? What do you, as an early stage startup, focusing on the media industry need?
This accelerator is a huge challenge for everybody who is involved. But it is a chance to wake the media industry from its innovation freeze. Great times for journalism are just beginning — let’s be a part of it.
Stay tuned via http://nma.vc or www.facebook.com/NextMediaAccelerator
UPDATE: Please don’t misunderstand: We will not “rescue” journalism or the print industry. We want to help creating new values in information experiences by building companies, that’s neither R&D nor pure altruism 😉