Building bridges across cultures
The start-up Nearay from the Adlershof Founder’s Lab wants to better connect cultural communities
“People with multicultural backgrounds and newcomers often struggle to find communities from their own cultural circles,” says Enes Savas. “The information is scattered everywhere. Searching for it can be time-consuming and frustrating.”
Event listings, restaurant recommendations, or book suggestions are often hidden away among an ocean of data on the internet and social media, says Savas. The only option left to most is to sift through forums or Facebook groups, switching between languages, only to end up with information that may or may not have been worth the trouble. Frustration is almost inevitable.
To change this, he co-founded the start-up Nearay with Linda Walczak and Markus Köhne. “We envision a city where people can easily find authentic restaurants, locate specialty ingredients, and connect with others who share their cultural background,” is how Savas describes the vision connecting the three founders. “Soon, all of this will be possible in a single app.” He likes to describe this tool as a digital guide to an enriching and well-connected city experience. It is scheduled to become available for Android and iOS already this year. Guest access does not require prior registration. A user account unlocks more features, however, such as rating businesses or restaurants. In the future, Savas hints, users will also be able to link their social media profiles for a small fee.
“For the initial phase, we're focusing on the German-Turkish community,” explains the founder. “That’s where I’m from. That’s where the idea was born.” It is one of the largest multicultural communities in Berlin—with many small, owner-managed businesses and restaurants. “For us, these businesses lie at the heart of the project,” says Walczak. Yet, many owners belong to older generations and are unfamiliar with apps or social media.
“If we can bridge this gap by connecting these businesses with younger generations, we will support them and expand their reach,” she adds.
Berlin and the German-Turkish community are just the starting point, Savas assures. Walczak agrees: “We’ll be expanding to other cities, followed by other communities—the German-Polish, the German-Spanish, and many more.” When the time has come, user engagement will become more important. During the current start-up phase, the three are investing a great deal of time to populate the app with interesting topics and useful content. Eventually, users will be able to share their favourite places or events with the community. “At that point, our role will shift to filtering and presenting user-generated content,” says Savas, looking into the future.
It all began as a “passion project”, as Savas affectionately calls it, developed during his time working in various start-ups. There, he met Köhne, who introduced him to app development. “At some point, our idea turned into a real product,” says Savas. Convincing Walczak to join was not hard. In Berlin, too, their plan has elicited supportive nods and so they have since moved into the Adlershof Founder’s Lab, or AFL, where they are now working on their vision of bridging cultures.
Kai Dürfeld for Adlershof Journal
Teams 2024 - Adlershof Founder's Lab - WISTA Management GmbH