CONNECT GLOBAL GMBH

Their core work

Connect Global GmbH is a Berlin-based startup acceleration and market-entry specialist that helps European tech startups — particularly deep-tech and blockchain ventures — scale across borders by connecting them with customers, investors, and startup hubs. Their core work involves designing and running cross-border go-to-market programs: identifying which EU markets a startup should enter, mapping the relevant ecosystem actors (accelerators, corporate buyers, public procurement channels), and facilitating introductions. In EU projects they have contributed both as a coordinator designing program architecture and as a partner delivering acceleration services within larger blockchain and innovation ecosystems. They operate at the intersection of startup support infrastructure and business development, not as a research lab.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (2018), Connect Global focused on the infrastructure layer of startup scaling: connecting hubs, enabling cross-border market entry, and building the network through which scaleups could move across EU markets. By their second project (2020-2021), the focus had sharpened into a specific technology vertical — blockchain and deep-tech — and shifted downstream toward commercial outcomes: go-to-market execution, access to paying customers, and integration with the EU Innovation Radar for visibility. The trend shows a move from ecosystem plumbing (hub networking) toward direct commercialisation support within a defined technology niche.

Connect Global is moving toward technology-vertical specialisation in deep-tech and blockchain, with an increasing emphasis on customer acquisition and commercial traction rather than ecosystem building alone — making them a relevant partner for any consortium that needs to connect research outputs to startup communities or early commercial markets.

How they like to work

Connect Global has taken both a leadership role (coordinator on Access2Europe) and a partner role (B-HUB FOR EUROPE), suggesting flexibility depending on the program scope. Their consortia have been small — 7 unique partners across 2 projects — which is consistent with agile, operationally focused programs rather than large research consortia. They appear to work as a specialist delivery partner rather than a large consortium hub, most valuable when a project needs someone to actually run outreach and market-entry programming rather than conduct research.

Connect Global has collaborated with 7 unique partners across 6 countries in just 2 projects, suggesting a deliberately curated network rather than a broad one. Their geographic spread across 6 EU countries is consistent with a cross-border market access mandate.

What sets them apart

Connect Global is one of the few German SMEs in the H2020 portfolio that sits squarely in the startup acceleration layer — not as an investor, not as a research institute, but as a practitioner that designs and delivers cross-border scaling programs. Their Berlin base gives them access to one of Europe's densest startup ecosystems, while their H2020 track record shows they can operate EU-wide programs within a small, focused team. For a consortium that needs the "startup commercialisation" work package executed rather than theorised, Connect Global brings direct operational experience.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Access2Europe
  Their largest project (€380,215) and the one they coordinated — a pan-European program that networked startup hubs to enable cross-border market entry, demonstrating full program management capability.
• B-HUB FOR EUROPE
  Marks their pivot into blockchain and deep-tech verticals, participating in an acceleration program explicitly targeting blockchain startups — a niche with growing relevance to EU digital sovereignty initiatives.