Our proven pro bono format "HL BaSE Catalyst" entered a new round on Tuesday 23 May, 2023. During the workshop, we worked together with our corporate clients to advise young founders on legal issues free of charge. This year, for the first time, the German edition of the workshop took place in cooperation with "Changemakers for the Planet", an initiative dedicated to fighting climate change and supporting young business founders from the environmental and climate sector.
"The HL BaSE Catalyst helped us with our most pressing legal questions. It was incredible to have the opportunity of talking to four lawyers in one session and that for free! A big thanks and high recommendation."
Merit Ulmer, Co-Founder, eco:fibr
A total of 6 Changemakers were able to make good use of the offer. All of them are currently facing important legal questions to be able to develop and scale their business models in a professional way. With a total of 16 Hogan Lovells volunteer lawyers and 4 in-house legal counsel from Ford, Cisco and Celonis, intensive advisory sessions were held in small groups.
The Changemakers participants were:
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Climate EU – Climate tech community and matching platform for investors and VCs, and people looking for jobs in climate tech
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Eco:fibr - eco:fibr uses pineapple residues to obtain pulp and produces high-quality, ecological pulp in its own production facility in Costa Rica, following a circular economy approach. eco:fibr pulp is sold to companies in the paper industry.
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Meli Bees Network - Meli is a network engaging indigenous and local communities in vulnerable areas to support their regenerative work and lead a bottom-up movement of climate justice.
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Ucaneo - Ucaneo is developing the world's first biological Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology with a paradigmatic new mechanism that combines the best of nature with the best of technology.
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Proservation - PROSERVATION is developing an innovative new material that can be used as a protective cushioning material for packaging purposes.
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ReDo - ReDo is an innovation platform that connects consumers, experts and companies. It enables sustainable innovation by creating a community that works together to redesign existing products in a sustainable way.
Voices from HL BaSE Catalyst participants
“We had a great call with your lawyers, they were very friendly and helpful. The introductory has been entertaining and a good start into the meeting. …it was always a pleasure to meet lots of professionals, young and empowering people. … I would definitely recommend the BaSE Catalyst to other social entrepreneurs in my network.” Nils Bachmann, PROSERVATION
“I found the workshop very exciting, and it was a lot of fun. We were able to give our start-up some valuable advice and impetus in the breakout session. I found it useful that an in-house counsel was also there because she was able to assess the start-up's questions from a different perspective and we could complement each other well in this respect.” – Hogan Lovells volunteer
About “Changemakers for the Planet”
‘Changemakers for the Planet’ connects, supports, and amplifies the work and voices of hundreds of young changemakers, activists and innovators from all regions of the world who address the planetary crisis.
The global initiative searches, identifies, and selects young changemakers, activists and leaders, who tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, air, sea and land pollution.
At the heart of ChangemakerXchange is a vibrant close-knit community of 1000 changemakers from 130 countries working on a vast range of issues. See below selected examples of members addressing the planetary crisis.
More info: https://changemakerxchange.org/changemakers-for-the-planet/
"I really enjoyed the workshop and the exchange with the changemakers. It was interesting to hear about the different sustainable ideas and I am very happy that I could help and contribute to them."
Carina Schnepp, Legal Counsel, Ford