Berlin 2006. At the same time and in the same place – but independently of one another – a few people had the same idea.

Two Teams ...

After an extended stay in Africa, Till Behnke returned to Germany to work for car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler. But Till felt the need to combine his degree in Business Informatics, his professional expertise as a project manager and the ambivalent encounter with the African continent to a more meaningful end than a career in a transnational corporation. In discussions with Line Hadsbjerg, an anthropologist who had worked in development aid, a concept began to take shape: using the internet to improve the lives of needy people worldwide. What was still missing from the equation? A motivated team of co-founders: Philip Baier, Moritz Eckert, Georg Friedrich, Axel Kuzmik and Bodo Sieber came on board, and together they got the project off the ground -- betterplace.org, a global internet platform bridging the gap between need and countless new possibilities.

At the same time Joana and Stephan Breidenbach had returned to Berlin after a five month trip around the world with their children Lilian and Vico. Joana, a cultural anthropologist and Stephan, a professor of law, mediator and entrepreneur, had met a number of remarkable people who were trying to improve their lives and the world around them. While they knew what their communities needed, they were often lacking even the most basic resources and know-how – for a low-cost, eco-friendly irrigation system, for example, or a simple-but-effective medicine for river blindness. Depending on their own initiative, they operated below the radar of the institutionalized aid industry, without access to its funds. After their return, the couple, together with a small team formed by Samir Sekkat, Nunni Haferbusch and Hannelore Knott, designed a platform that would give people the chance to tell a global audience about themselves and their work and to meet people who wanted to see directly for themselves the tangible difference their support was making -- one-to-one and worldwide.

... one thought

In July 2007, both teams became aware of one another – not surprisingly, through the Internet. It very soon became apparent that, not only did they share the same objective, but had also approached it in strikingly similar ways. It made perfect sense to join forces under one name – betterplace – to make their shared vision more effective
Meanwhile Jörg Rheinboldt and Stephan Schwahlen, entrepreneurs involved in the development of innovative service, business and product ventures in the fields of internet, mobile telephony and media through their venture capital firm M10 Partners, had also joined the team. Prior to this, Jörg had founded alando.de, which had been bought up by eBay and under his management grew to become the largest eBay subsidiary outside the US. The idea of transferring his experience in online marketplaces to a platform for social involvement excited him. Stephan Schwalen on the other hand had, while a student in Cologne, headed and expanded the charitable student organization OFW and worked for the Boston Consulting Group and his family’s mechanical engineering business, among others. For Jörg and Stephan, betterplace didn’t just represent a chance to contribute to expanding the donations sector, making it more efficient and more effective – they wanted to turn our “world improvement business” into a sustainable, scalable and charitable venture.

And the next big step

Bernd Kundrun had a special wish, and he made it come true for his 50th birthday: to contribute to social responsibility in Germany by making a large donation from his personal means. As CEO of Gruner + Jahr, he had often had opportunities to get to know, and value, charitable initiatives. But the media manager wondered why so few of these organizations understood how to publicize their fantastic work and the moving stories behind it and to so encourage new donors or volunteers. Bernd wanted to remedy this and after getting to know betterplace and the people behind it he was inspired to become a shareholder. At the same time Oliver Grün made the same decision: as the founder of Grün Software AG, he brings to betterplace a wealth of experience from the field of fundraising organizations.

But that’s not the end of it: On January 1st, 2010, betterplace is being converted into a non-profit stock corporation, to give even more people the chance to get involved in betterplace.org – and thus to have a role in shaping the future of active social involvement.

We’re looking forward to it!