A letter of recommendation from IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein

In March 2026 we presented CABITREE to the jury of IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein, the regional chamber of commerce. The occasion was concrete: anyone who wants to apply for the Gründungsstipendium.NRW, the NRW founders' grant, needs a letter of recommendation from an accredited founders' network. For that, the idea has to convince an expert jury.

We told them where CABITREE comes from: from a joinery workshop, from the daily experience that declarations of origin and material claims in the wood sector are rarely backed by evidence. And where it is headed: towards origin and material information that survives the processing steps in a structured form and becomes traceable for customers and partners.

The jury issued the recommendation. That cleared the way for the grant application.

For us, the meeting also mattered in substance. It was the first time a panel from business and start-up advisory systematically questioned the idea: business model, market, feasibility. It ended with a recommendation and a set of good questions we have been working on ever since.