Factory Berlin is the place where you can share your knowledge, find support and expertise, and connect with like-minded people. Our main objective is to connect our members to the best ideas from the community and our extended network. With the help of some prominent companies and innovators, we make sure that every event provides not only inspiring or educational content, but real opportunities and important connections.

Our event formats include:

• Fireside Chats

Our Fireside Chat format brings thought leaders in science, technology, and politics to the Factory Berlin stage to share their experience and learnings with our diverse community. Experts from across the innovation sphere get a chance to connect with the Berlin and Hamburg startup and tech ecosystem, and the event attendees have an opportunity to get further insights and takeaways from our special guest by asking them questions in the end.

• Masterclasses

Experts share their experience and learnings with a community of entrepreneurs, founders, and professionals from a diverse range of sectors, helping to shape the business and projects built in our ecosystem. The 1-hour presentation ends with a short Q&A session, allowing attendees to deepen their understanding of a topic and engage in a dialogue with the speaker.

• Investors Days

Investors Day is a private event which invites our top 5 in-house startups to pitch their company to a panel of investors. Each startup has 5 minutes to pitch to the investor panel, during which each investor prepares questions for the startups. After all the pitches are complete, each startup has 5 minutes with each investor to answer the questions and receive feedback.

• Startup Demo Days

Our Startup Demo Day is a private event that invites our in-house startups to pitch their company to an audience of their Factory Berlin peers and a jury of business leaders and experts from the tech industry. The pitches are followed by a short panel with the jury on a current topic that is impacting the industry right now and a networking session for the startups.

• Circles Meet-ups & Events

Alongside regular casual meet-ups, the Circles program has evolved to provide content to the wider community of Factory Berlin and bring along speakers to share their knowledge and expertise for quarter events.

What are Circles?

Growing organically from our members’ desire to connect with one another, Circles are self-organized sub-communities at Factory Berlin, gathered around shared interests, industries, and projects, where members exchange ideas, inspire, and support each other. Getting involved in a Circle is one of the best ways to meet like-minded people and to become part of an active sub-community at Factory Berlin.

Alongside regular casual meet-ups, the Circles program has evolved to provide content to the wider community of Factory Berlin and bring along speakers to share their knowledge and expertise for quarter events.

Current Factory Berlin Circles

• Media Circle: The Media Circle brings members across the media landscape together to discuss big topics and trends, share information, give and receive advice, and support each other as a professional network — all while having fun.
• EdTech Circle: The EdTech Circle provides a platform for all stakeholders in Education to network and discusses challenges, opportunities, and learnings.
• Games Circles: The Games Circle creates a space to delve deeper into topics like gamification, board games, interactive art, digital video games and learning through interactive content. Come to connect. Connect to play.
• Women’s Circle: The Women’s Circle gathers to network and share resources—empowering each other to move toward and reach their goals.
• Designers Circle: The Designers Circle connects designers, illustrators, and artists together to collaborate, give feedback, and share their experiences as creatives working in a variety of fields.
• Developers Circle: The Developers Circle is a space to share knowledge and content with other members – bounce ideas off of developers in the community, provide feedback, and collaborate on projects.
• Blockchain Circle: Factory Berlin is home to many high-potential and fast-growing blockchain businesses. The Blockchain Circle brings this sub-community together to share knowledge on the latest trends and developments in the industry.
• ​Sustainability Circle: The Sustainability Circle links members across many industries to discuss and promote sustainable practices in all areas of life, and to encourage and support behavior changes that lead to a better future.
• Solopreneurs Circle: The Solopreneurs Circle cultivates a community of support  through the highs and lows of solopreneurship. After all, running your own business can be hard, and it can be wonderful–but it can also be pretty lonely.
• Future of Work Circle: The Future of Work Circle unites new work pioneers across subjects and timezones to identify the most pressing questions about the future of leadership and beyond, and creates space to explore innovative solutions.
• People & Spaces Circle: The People & Spaces Circle brings together professionals working in spatial, architectural, and interior design to discuss how to create positive environments for life and work.
• Mobility and Logistics Circle: The Mobility and Logistics Circle aims to connect all stakeholders from the Mobility and Logistics ecosystem to foster additional value, share knowledge, and create meaningful relationships.

How to join an existing Circle?

• Check the Community Handbook to find a Circle or two that interests you.
• Join the respected Circle Slack channel in the Factory Network Slack Workspace.
• Introduce yourself to the group and say hi. Comment on other members’ posts to get engaged with others’ projects, initiatives, and experiences.
• Join meet-ups on- or offline. Contribute your own initiatives and ideas.
• Attend headline Circle events.

How to start a Circle at Factory Berlin?

You are passionate about your industry and you want to bring people together, but there isn’t yet a Circle for what you do? Go ahead and take the initiative! We will support you along the way. Find all of the steps to starting a Circle here.

Level Up is a two-month pilot program, for 12 early-stage freelancers at Factory Berlin who are ready to set up shop and win their first big clients.

The program provides early-stage freelancers with expertise, mentorship, and network, and connects participants with open job opportunities from the startup and corporate companies from the Factory Berlin community.

At Factory Berlin, our single greatest asset is our curated community. We believe that great minds think alike, that’s why we came up with the Matchmaking Program, which aims to bring together like-minded members of our community, so that they can connect, share knowledge, exchange ideas, and grow together.

How does it work?

Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to Matchmaking. That’s why we ask our participants to provide as much information as possible. The richer the input, the better the match. Once we have everything, we would look through the input provided to us by members and match the participants based on their field of expertise, shared interests, and values. Once we have a match, we would notify you via Slack and invite for a drink in one of our locations.

How do I take part in the Matchmaking Program?

1. Fill out your Member Profile. If you’ve already done this, so you can skip this step.
2. Fill out this form, and we’ll connect you with a new friend, collaborator, or colleague.

Keep in mind that it may take a little time for you to get your intro, since we really want to find the perfect match. So we ask you to stay patient: we’ll get back to you first thing.

The “Match Me Up” Button Pins

You can also take part in our daily “Match Me Up” initiative. When entering any of our locations, you can pick up a special pin at our Community Desk and pin it on to your chest. By wearing it, you signal other members that you’re ready and willing to be approached for networking. Whether it’s a quick chat over a cup of coffee, a lunch date, or a more in-depth conversation, it’s a great way to show that you’re in the “match me up” mood and want to connect with other members of the community. Please return your pin to the Community Desk when you leave the campus.

Together with a number of our partners and powered by Google for Startups, our 3-month mentorship program helps early stage female founders and women in tech take their ideas to the next level.

To empower the next generation of female, non-binary, and female-identifying founders, Factory Berlin focuses on supporting aspiring female founders, and helps connect them at the inception phase of their business or product with leaders from across tech and business to guide them from idea to MVP.

Check out our website to find out more about Stealth Mode, participants, and ideas that have developed through this mentorship program.

In collaboration with Sónar+D, our 4-month Artist in Residency program supports artists exploring new lines of inquiry intersecting technology and society. We aim to discover, explore, and showcase how creativity impacts innovation, problem-solving, work culture, how we collaborate, and how we come together as a community.

The program was first launched in late 2019 and has since kicked off with a second cohort in October 2020.

Check out our website to find out more about Artists in Residence, its participants, and collaborative projects that have developed through this program.