The Business Angels Network Germany (BAND) and the Federal Association of German Startups (Bundesverband Deutsche Startups eV) have jointly founded the German Standards Setting Institute (GESSI). They aim to make startup financing in Germany faster, easier, more cost-effective, and legally secure, with standardized contracts, among other things.
The cooperation between the two associations ensures that representatives of both contracting parties – i.e. startups and investors – work together to develop the documents, thus achieving a fair balance of interests.
The collaboration between the startup and investor sides results in contractual documents that can claim to balance interests, so that the documents can be accepted as neutral by both the investor and the startup sides.
Special working groups take care of standard documents
To achieve a high degree of balance, the two associations say a special working group will be established for each standard document, which will include—in addition to technical experts—startup representatives and investor representatives. Each working group will be led by a law firm with specialist expertise.
German Standards Setting Institute: Documents in Transition
The results of the working groups will be published on the GESSI platform.
However, the standardization process doesn't end with publication. Anyone who wishes can comment on the texts or provide suggestions. The responsible working group will review the comments at regular intervals and make changes to the text if necessary.
