The cultural and creative industries encompass a wide variety of markets: there are the classic areas of design, film and theatre, but also, for example, advertising, gaming and software development. The sector is characterised by a strong dynamic - and not least by creative people who want to realise their ideas. As many as 16 per cent of those employed in Düsseldorf's cultural and creative scene are self-employed - twice the average for the city’s economy as a whole. So it's no surprise that there are also many start-ups in this sector. Today we present three of them that impressively show how diverse the cultural and creative industries can be: an online shop for first aid posters, a platform for non-discriminatory recruitment and an app that makes teams more successful and employees happier. Here come: littleplan, DIVE and MONDAY.ROCKS.

MONDAY.ROCKS IMPROVES TEAM LEADERSHIP

The founders of MONDAY.ROCKS (from left to right): Tobias Liedtke, Mario Reis, Luisa Bunzel and Prof. Christoph Schönfelder

Looking forward to Monday on Sunday - that is the basic idea behind MONDAY.ROCKS. With their leadership app, the founders Luisa Bunzel, Tobias Liedtke, Mario Reis and Prof. Christoph Schönfelder aim to improve teamwork and thus increase performance and satisfaction. "The more productive, smooth and transparent teamwork is, the more satisfied the team members are," explains CEO Mario Reis. "This in turn benefits the managers - and thus the entire company."

In April 2018, the four of them launched their idea: an app to help managers understand their teams, reveal weaknesses and provide appropriate instructions for action. Precise, simple and data-based. Based on 16 factors, the app uses surveys to continuously identify opportunities and challenges in the teams and provides AI-supported impulses for optimisation. "The app analyses which team development measures have already been successful in comparable teams in comparable situations and suggests them," says Mario Reis. "This way, team performance and employee satisfaction can be measurably increased."

The MONDAY.ROCKS leadership app promises more motivation and satisfaction through better team leadership.

More than 30 motivated people now work for MONDAY.ROCKS. From its location in Düsseldorf's Medienhafen, the start-up supports more than 100 companies; more than 1,000 managers use the software for better team management. The focus for the coming years is on growth and internationalisation. As part of the ministry-funded Scale-up.NRW programme, it provides the necessary impetus for this. •

MONDAY.ROCKS GMBH
KESSELSTRASSE 3
40221 DÜSSELDORF
WWW.MONDAY.ROCKS

LITTLEPLAN MAKES FIRST AID EASILY ACCESSIBLE

With reversible posters and child-friendly printed materials, littleplan helps to better integrate first aid into everyday life.

"10,000 lives could be saved every year through active and correctly applied first aid by lay people. But many people are unsure and therefore do not dare to help. With our reversible posters, we bring first aid knowledge into every household in an appealing design." This is how Meike Haagmans describes the mission of her start-up company littleplan. Together with primary school friend and business partner Lynn Marie Zapp, the Düsseldorf native has set up an online shop that aims to save lives. "First aid manuals are often difficult to understand and not particularly pretty. That's why they usually end up gathering dust in drawers," says the founder. "Then, when they are needed, they are rarely handy." Designer Lynn adds: "With littleplan’s reversible posters, we make first aid tangible. On the front is an appealing children's motif, and on the back are important first aid instructions for emergencies. Just turn it over and you'll know what to do in no time."

The idea for littleplan was born in the first lockdown of the Covid pandemic- less than four months later, the online shop was up and running. Meike programmed, Lynn created the designs. In the summer of 2021, the Björn Steiger Foundation awarded them the Future Prize, and in June 2023, the two founders won the Provinzial Female Founders Pitch at this year's Düsseldorf Startup Week. "Our goal is to have a littleplan hanging in every child's room," says Meike. The start has been made - and the know-how for more posters is definitely there, because Meike became a trained paramedic in March 2023. The decision to train was made at the same time as the company was founded. •

LITTLEPLAN UG
BIRKENSTRASSE 71
40233 DÜSSELDORF
WWW.LITTLEPLAN.DE

The DIVE Jobmatch platform makes application processes non-discriminatory - and thus makes the job market a bit fairer.

DIVE EMPOWERS EQUALITY AT WORK

Applying for a job without any data mentioning your age, gender or background? That's possible, say Sejla, Selma, Theano and Osia from the start-up company DIVE. And more than that: it promotes diverse jobs, strengthens Germany as a business location and actively counteracts the shortage of skilled workers.

In 2020, the four women launched their mission: to make workplaces inclusive and application processes non-discriminatory. Almost three years later, DIVE is a diversity accelerator with its own application platform for anonymous recruiting. On "DIVE Jobmatch", jobseekers can have suitable jobs suggested to them and apply solely on the basis of professional experience and knowledge. "Our platform is the only solution to eliminate the natural biases in the human brain and ensure a fair entry into a job," says HR expert Sejla. "For us, the only thing that counts is what a person is capable of." "We believe that we are solving a very fundamental problem for companies, organisations and industries with our offer," adds business lawyer Selma.

For their non-discriminatory job portal, the four founders received the award as Cultural and Creative Pilots for special entrepreneurial courage and creativity from the German government last year. "As women with migrant backgrounds, we ourselves have experienced a lot of discrimination in our professional lives," says Osia, the communications manager. "We want this to change for all those who come after us." And organisational talent Theano adds: "Our goal with DIVE is to establish anonymised application procedures - and of course our platform - as the norm for recruitment." •

DIVE CONNECTED GMBH & DIVE SQUARED GBR
AM WALD 119
40599 DÜSSELDORF
DIVE-JOBMATCH.COM

Words: Maria Leipold
Pictures: PR, MONDAY.ROCKS, littleplan, DIVE

Fresh Ideas from Düsseldorf