Values, Growth, and Impact at the Hamburg Innovation Summit
2026-06-23 How can sustainable entrepreneurship succeed? Experts from academia and the business world discussed social entrepreneurship, impact, and economic viability at the Hamburg Innovation Summit.
How do companies with a sustainable social impact come into being? Nicol Hartz, project coordinator of the Holistic Impact Incubator at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, and Lars Kalusky, startup advisor at Startup Port at HAW Hamburg, addressed this question at the Hamburg Innovation Summit alongside Viva con Agua co-founder Micha Fritz and researcher Robert Hoyer from the Leuphana Social Innovation Community.
Helena Ritterpusch, founder of Boommate, brought a particularly practical perspective to the panel. The startup describes itself as a “mix of Bumble and WG-Gesucht” and aims to bring single seniors together in shared living arrangements. With her questions, Helena spontaneously turned the discussion into a live coaching session.
Micha Fritz advised communicating the concept of boomer shared living arrangements with more courage and humor. Comedy, he noted, can help reach people outside one’s own target audience and break down reservations. Robert Hoyer emphasized that social impact cannot be measured solely by successful matchmaking. Anyone who wants to combat loneliness and the housing crisis must also help shape the political framework—for example, by creating incentives that make it easier for older people to move into a shared living arrangement.
A key takeaway from the panel: Impact takes many forms and isn’t limited to an organization’s growth. Even failure can lead to success. Micha Fritz recalled the early days of Viva con Agua: A planned ticket donation at the Lunatic Festival in Lüneburg didn’t work out. Instead, the initiative collected deposit cups—a concept that was later adopted by many others.
Another call to action: The social impact community must step outside its own bubble and find ways to reach people who are not yet convinced of the importance of social change.