While the initial ideas were developed up to 13,000 kilometers apart, Circular Valley® brings all startups together. Young companies from five continents made their way to the Rhine-Ruhr region to refine their ideas and business models and to find potential partners and investors. At the same time, they grow into a close community during the three months here: in respectful feedback on each other's projects and in the program's workshops and activities.

Numerous experts share their experiences with the participants and company visits to Circular Valley® partners are offered during the program.

Moreover, the startups get to know the region, as well as each other through various leisure activities such as hiking or going out. Ideas brought to Circular Valley® by the startups in the third batch include bottles made from paper waste, sanitary pads made from agricultural waste, and building materials made from former shoe soles.

This month, North Rhine-Westphalia's new state government has formed as a coalition of CDU and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.

In their coalition agreement, the circular economy is mentioned at the very beginning of the chapter on economic strategies, stating the circular economy is "crucial for achieving climate goals".

This not only delighted the Circular Valley® team, but it is also a great honor for Circular Valley® to be explicitly mentioned in the agreement. "An initiative like Circular Valley® "already has an impact far beyond North Rhine-Westphalia," according to the coalition agreement.

The fact that Circular Valley® is to the circular economy what Silicon Valley is to the digital economy has spread to the government district in Berlin. Circular Valley's managing director Andreas Mucke witnessed this firsthand during a visit to the capital. He met members of the government there and discussed with them, among other things, the paragraphs on circular economy in the coalition agreement. "I experienced great openness and honest enthusiasm for our idea," Mucke said after the visit.

Over the past few months, several of our startups have once again won awards. Seginus, a startup from batch 2, won a major international award: At the Recircle Awards, a global authority in the field of car tire recycling, the Ecuadorian startup was awarded in the category "Best EPR Scheme" (Extended Producer Responsibility). Seginus is a non-profit initiative that connects all the players in the end-of-life tire value chain and organizes solutions for their recycling and upcycling.

Mary Nyaruai Muriithi from Nyungu Africa, one of our current batch 3 startups, was awarded "Best Female Entrepreneur" by TotalEnergies in Kenya. That is why she is currently smiling from many large billboards in her home country. Nyungu Africa develops sanitary pads from agricultural waste (pineapple and corn husk fibers) that are not only body-friendly but also biodegradable.