Markus Sauerhammer sits on the board of the Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany (SEND) and works daily to improve the conditions for social entrepreneurs in Germany. We spoke with him about his commitment and the concrete goals of SEND, and took a look into the future. Sauerhammer believes that politics plays a crucial role in this.
Hi Markus, please introduce yourself briefly and explain your role at SEND!
I originally completed a model agricultural training program and then, via a detour, ended up in the startup world. In recent years, I've primarily focused on building bridges between established players and those shaping new territory.
During my time at the crowdfunding platform Startnext, I noticed that ideas with significant social benefits have a particularly difficult time developing. Whether it's about suitable financing instruments, target group-specific support offerings, or the further development of the legal framework. Changing this was the impetus for the founding of the Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany (SEND), where I serve on the board.
What are the main goals you are pursuing?
If you like, we're concerned with transferring our values of a social market economy to the present day. We, and especially our members, are committed to ensuring that society as a whole benefits from progress and that solving our societal challenges is at the heart of our actions.
SEND's core objectives are to connect the social entrepreneurship sector, work toward further professionalization, and increase the visibility of its stakeholders. We also work with politicians and ministries to further develop the framework conditions.
Germany has been too passive on the topic of social entrepreneurship
To what extent do you hold politicians accountable for achieving your goals? What do you think needs to change, both in Germany and internationally?
This is one of the biggest challenges facing us. While many other countries have made significant political inroads into social entrepreneurship and social innovation, Germany has so far remained very passive on this important future issue. This is illustrated, for example, by the study "The best Country to be a Social Entrepreneur," which ranks Germany 12th overall among the 45 economically strongest nations. However, in the category "Support from government policy," it ranks only 34th. Other studies underscore the previous passivity of our politicians on this important future issue.
However, if you look at the three coalition agreements (federal, Bavarian, and Hesse) from last year, there's a shift in thinking. Better support for social entrepreneurship was enshrined in all three agreements:
"Social entrepreneurship is playing an increasingly important role in solving current societal and social challenges. We want to promote and support social entrepreneurship even more strongly than before."
Coalition agreement of the Federal Government
However, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the concrete implementation (Editor's note.: see SEND statement on the government's response to the "minor inquiry" of Alliance 90/The GreensWhile other countries have long since developed national strategies, their own financing programs, or target group-specific legal forms, we are still a long way from this.
We're all the more pleased that this topic is receiving more attention as part of the BMWi's start-up initiative, and that the coalition government in Bavaria has also committed to better support for the sector. It's important that politicians take action! The divisions in society continue to grow, and in many places, efforts are focused on addressing the effects of our societal challenges rather than the causes. This might suffice for a few more years, but it's not a long-term solution.
Results underline the high innovative power of the sector
You launched the first German Social Entrepreneurship Monitor (DSEM) last year. What's your conclusion, and what's your outlook for the coming years?
The results speak for themselves, both in terms of potential and obstacles.
Our results underline the high innovative power of the sector, which was recently also reflected in a Study by KfW Research The focus is on local solutions, but many of the actors already have a global scaling strategy. These actors are working toward the realization of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are thus increasingly establishing themselves as an important force for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Almost half are female founders
I found it fascinating that participatory organizational models are particularly important. Many players in the sector are pioneers in the area of "New Work" and are shaping the future of work through a culture of participation and involvement.
I was particularly excited that in the otherwise often male-dominated startup scene, the proportion of female founders is almost 50 percent.
Social startups are disadvantaged when it comes to financing
Speaking of challenges, I could list quite a few. If we focus exclusively on access to financing instruments that come directly from the public sector or are supported by it, a comparison of the results of the German Startup Monitor (DSM) with those of the DSEM clearly shows that social startups cannot access many of these instruments:
• State subsidies: 35.2% vs. 9.1%
• Business Angels: 21.1% vs. 3.4%
• Venture Capital/Impact Investing: 15.3% vs. 3.0%
• Bank loan: 12.2% vs. 2.7%
The greater challenge of financing is also confirmed by the results of the aforementioned KfW Research study. It is therefore hardly surprising that policymakers only received a grade of 4.6 from the DSEM participants.
Regarding the forecast for the coming years, it is already clear that the sector is undergoing rapid growth and rapid professionalization. This is not a German phenomenon, but a global development. An important factor for the further development of the sector is an improvement in the political framework! Decisive action on the part of politicians is also required here!
Social startups as “agile speedboats”
What is your vision for the future of social entrepreneurship?
With digitalization, we have entered an era of constant change. This epochal shift brings with it great potential—but also challenges. These changes affect not only traditional digital solutions but also extend to many other areas. This is where innovation competence becomes one of the most important key qualifications.
In the future, we will see even more collaborations between social entrepreneurs and actors from politics, welfare, business, and civil society. Social startups can act as "agile speedboats" to develop and test solutions. The best solutions can then be scaled up together with established actors, thus better unlocking their social potential. Furthermore, this collaboration strengthens the innovation capabilities of established actors.
It's important that this doesn't happen on its own. Future policy has many parallels with my agricultural roots. The following applies to both: We reap what we sow.
With this in mind, let us finally work with the necessary urgency to create a future fit for our grandchildren!
Thank you for the interview!
