The participants in the fifth year of the MEDIAstart start-up initiative have been announced: twelve promising media companies from Central Germany have been selected from all the applications received. The business models range from animated films, games and gamification to the topic of accessibility.

For 2025, the 2Kings Film GmbH (Leipzig), the Colourgraphie GmbH (Erfurt), the DramaCare GmbH (Leipzig), the Yellow cat on black GbR (Magdeburg), The Hidden Institute GbR (Leipzig), the Hoy & Wagner GbR (Jena), the Juliane Heinemann UG (advertising), the Inclusive Gaming GmbH (Leipzig), the kinferno UG (Weimar), the Paper Plane Animaton GbR (Weimar), the PARA Film GbR (Leipzig) and the Studio Animauz GbR (Dresden) was included in the programme.

"In view of the large number of applicants for MEDIAstart once again, I am very pleased that we were able to award two additional places for the first time with the help of special funds from Saxony," says MDM Managing Director André Naumann. "So this year, instead of the previous maximum of ten companies, there will be a total of twelve: six companies from Saxony, four from Thuringia and two from Saxony-Anhalt. They will all enrich the media location with their business concepts."

As part of the MEDIAstart programme, the selected founders will be accompanied and supported for a year as they set up their company and further develop their business models. They take part in specially designed workshops, are provided with experienced mentors and business coaches and are networked with regional and national companies as well as potential clients. They also receive a monthly operating subsidy of up to 1,000 euros.

The MEDIAstart start-up initiative, which began its work in January 2021, supports selected media companies headquartered in Central Germany every year in quickly and permanently gaining a foothold in the market. It is aimed at both university graduates and people already working in the industry who want to set up a company in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt or Thuringia or have founded one within the last three years before the start of the respective MEDIAstart year.

To the press release