VNG AG and Smart Infrastructure Hub Leipzig found coronavirus aid initiative RE-START

Against the backdrop of the coronavirus crisis, small businesses, the self-employed and start-ups from all over central Germany have another opportunity to receive emergency financial assistance. To help them, the Leipzig energy company VNG AG and the Smart Infrastructure Hub Leipzig have launched the joint aid initiative ‘RE-START’. It is aimed at representatives from the media, education, retail, gastronomy, event, leisure, mobility and health sectors who have suffered economically as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Affected sole traders as well as companies with up to ten employees and company headquarters in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt or Thuringia can apply online until 30 June 2020 at http://re-start.jetzt/.The selected beneficiaries will receive emergency aid of between EUR 2,000 and 4,000.

“With the aid initiative, we want to contribute to the preservation of economic diversity in our region. It is precisely the small enterprises that enrich our society with an immense amount of passion and creativity that are often hit particularly hard by the crisis. They must not fall behind as a result of coronavirus,” says Bodo Rodestock, Member of the Executive Board of VNG AG. His company, which has more than 60 years of experience in the gas business, is participating in the initiative with start-up capital of EUR 40,000. “Broad-based social commitment has always been part of VNG’s DNA, but solidarity is particularly in demand in times of crisis. Any kind of help is extremely valuable for those affected. In this respect, we would very much appreciate it if other supporters could join us,” says Rodestock.

Co-founder Eric Weber from the Smart Infrastructure Hub Leipzig knows very well the current worries and hardships of start-ups and aspiring young entrepreneurs, and is therefore all the more convinced of the goal of the aid initiative. “Just like countless small shops, restaurants, cafés, media professionals or service providers from the event industry, founders have also been faced with problems that threatened their existence, in some cases through no fault of their own. This is where we want to start and make at least a small contribution,” says the Managing Director of the Hub, which also includes the Leipzig start-up incubator SpinLab – The HHL Accelerator. Over 50 business ideas have been successfully advanced there in recent years.

RE-START receives additional support from Leipzig’s Mayor Burkhard Jung: “The initiative is another example of the great solidarity and willingness to help in the region. We need local entrepreneurship, fresh ideas and diversity in cities, which is why I very much welcome the initiative.”

VNG and SpinLab have had a close partnership for several years. Together they support emerging companies and start-ups from the energy sector. With the aid initiative, they are taking a further step together to help in these current difficult times.