In the course of the digital transformation in the global economy, start-up ecosystems have increasingly established themselves as important drivers of economic growth and sustainable employment effects. Start-ups are risk-taking, open and adaptable. They are driving the digital transformation by picking up on technological progress at an early stage, developing rapidly scalable solutions and business models, and creating sustainable jobs.

A vital start-up ecosystem and the innovative strength of young companies are of crucial importance for North Rhine-Westphalia as a business location. The state government has therefore set itself the goal of leading North Rhine-Westphalia into Europe's leading start-up regions.

The state government bases its activities to promote the start-up ecosystem on this goal. In order to increase the visibility of the location and to make even better use of the existing strengths, a wide range of information, consulting and funding opportunities have been set up in recent years to support young companies in their development and advance the scaling potential.

In order to measure the progress of North Rhine-Westphalia on the way to the leading European start-up regions and to align the measures of the state government to this goal achievement as needed, a regular analysis of the ecosystem is of paramount importance.

Since start-ups represent a special form of start-up, however, there are no official statistics that record the start-up activity of German start-ups. Meanwhile, studies on the start-up ecosystem often focus only on individual topics and consider specific time periods. In addition, the different providers use different measurement bases and analysis methods, so that only a low comparability of the evaluations is given.

With the present call for proposals, a contractor is therefore being sought who will prepare regular, KPI-based reporting on the start-up ecosystem of North Rhine-Westphalia, summarize the results in an annual, graphics-based study and, through a more in-depth analysis and evaluation of the data, derive recommendations for action for the state government (Lot 1 - Quantitative Reporting).

In addition to the quantitative data basis, it is equally important for the orientation of the ecosystem strategy to address the founders directly and thus to receive central impulses on current trends, opportunities and challenges in the start-up scene. The assessments and evaluations of the start-ups serve the state government as an important information basis for the further development of the ecosystem.

Parallel to the call for tenders for the quantitative key figure reporting, a contractor is therefore being sought who will conduct an annual survey of the ecosystem actors and identify further potentials for the development of start-up-friendly framework conditions in North Rhine-Westphalia. The qualitative results of the survey will also be summarized annually in a graphics-based study (Lot 2 - Qualitative Reporting).

The subject of the order is the quantitative investigation of the start-up ecosystem North Rhine-Westphalia on the creation of a consistent data basis for the creation of KPI-based evaluations and analyses, summary annual studies as well as supplementary social media graphics and start-up short portraits.

The aim of the quantitative surveys is to place the ecosystem developments in North Rhine-Westphalia in a European context and thus to measure the achievement of goals on the way to Europe's leading start-up regions.

The following services are to be provided by the contractor within the scope of the order:

1) Setting up quantitative key figure reporting

2) Quarterly reporting of four defined key figure dimensions

3) Preparation of an annual, summary study in the scope of the NRW Start-up Report 2020

4) Preparation and semi-annual updating of a list of short portraits of high-growth start-ups from NRW with scale-up potential

5) Provision of a consulting contingent for a more in-depth evaluation of the results and the derivation of recommendations for action

6) Creation of Sharepics for the high-profile communication of the key figures and study results by the client

7) Public relations work for the announcement of the key figures and study results by the contractor

A detailed description of the requirements for the individual service modules can be found in the service description.

Furthermore, the following services are part of the order:

- Kick-off meeting: After the contract has been awarded, a kick-off meeting between the client and the contractor takes place in order to coordinate the concrete procedure and the time and organizational process of the service provision (max. 3 hours).

- Interim status meetings: To agree on the interim status of the work, an appointment between the client and the contractor takes place 4 times a year, in each case after the submission of the quarterly report (max. 3 hours; Dates to be agreed in the kick-off).

- Agreements with contractor from Lot 2: The contractor must coordinate with the client and the contractor of the second lot with regard to the thematic priorities and executions of the annual studies and the supplementary public relations work. For this purpose, a maximum of 2 hours of voting takes place once a year. In addition, the contractor participates in the annual presentation of the final results of the study of the second batch.

The kick-off meeting and the annual interim status meeting after submission of the fourth quarter report - at which the preparation of the annual study is also discussed - take place at the client's premises in Düsseldorf. The further interim discussions and agreements with both contractors will take place in the form of video conferences. The client reserves the right to carry out all the above-mentioned coordination dates alternatively as a video conference. In addition, if necessary, an accompanying regular coordination by e-mail, telephone or video conference takes place.

The subject of the contract is the qualitative study of the start-up ecosystem North Rhine-Westphalia via a survey of the North Rhine-Westphalian founders to identify start-up-relevant influencing factors of the ecosystem and the presentation of these results in an annual, graphical report.

The following services are to be provided by the contractor within the scope of the order:

1) Annual survey of North Rhine-Westphalian start-ups

2) Preparation of an annual, summary study

3) Creation of Sharepics for the high-profile communication of the survey results by the client

4) Supplementary public relations work for the announcement of the survey results by the contractor

A detailed description of the requirements for the individual service modules can be found in the service description.

Furthermore, the following services are part of the order:

- Kick-off meeting: After the contract has been awarded, a kick-off meeting between the client and the contractor takes place in order to agree on the concrete procedure and the timing and organizational process of the service provision (max. 3 hours).

- Interim status of meetings: In order to agree on an interim status of the work, one or two further appointments take place annually between the client and the contractor (max. 3 hours); To agree on dates in the kick-off.

- Agreements with contractor from Lot 1: The contractor must coordinate with the client and the contractor of the first batch with regard to the thematic priorities and executions of the annual studies and the supplementary public relations work. For this purpose, a maximum of 2 hours of voting takes place once a year. In addition, the contractor participates in the annual presentation of the final results of the key figure reports as well as the study of the first batch.

The kick-off meeting and the annual presentation of the results take place in the client's premises in Düsseldorf. The interim status meetings and other arrangements take place in the form of a video conference. The client reserves the right to carry out all the above-mentioned coordination dates alternatively as a video conference. In addition, if necessary, an accompanying regular coordination by e-mail, telephone or video conference takes place.