The Internet’s myriads of websites with intricate graphics and meaningless videos consume an exorbitant amount of energy and are responsible for nearly 8% of globalCO2 emissions. This is why this website uses mostly text, no colors and an energy-efficient black background.
PRINCIPLES
I. We are consultants. We found and manage our own companies. We know the challenges of building a company from the ground up and keeping it running. With lots of passion and experience, we counsel others on their projects and visions. If they are sustainable. Or want to be.
II. Sustainable companies are not in it for a quick buck at the expense of people and the environment. They know that each economic decision comes with social and environmental impacts. After all, they want to achieve positive long-term results.
III. Consumers and employees are becoming ever more critical and start asking questions about a company’s social and environmental strategies. Greenwashing will come out in the end. Sustainability is not just a marketing story but needs to be an integral part of every successful business strategy.
CONSULTING
On the one hand, we support start-ups through all stages of development, from defining their ideas into a concrete project and structuring all implementation steps and related processes, to creating business and financing plans and marketing and sales concepts. Last but not least, we actively assist them, through our extensive network, with financing and funding. On the other hand, we aid established companies of any size with implementing a sustainable and entrepreneurial mindset across all long-term strategies and all personnel.
Mediashop is one of Europe’s leading omni-channel retailers and, with its over 300 employees, clear leader in the German-speaking market. Using our tried and tested PPP way (People-Planet-Profit), we implement a customized tool for visualizing and improving sustainable entrepreneurship. In cooperation with the company and with scientific assistance from the Social Entrepreneurship Center of the WU Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business), we create concrete measures and KPIs, while respecting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Wolkenkuckuck is launching an interactive online wedding planner. The digital platform is a one-stop shop for international couples wanting to celebrate their special day in Austria without being on site for all the pre-event planning. We helped them create a user-centered needs analysis, personas and future customer journeys as well as a strategic business plan.
Located in Unterweissenbach, Upper Austria, Sonnberg Biofleisch is Austria’s leading 100 % organic butcher with 100 employees. We continue to support them with developing long-term strategic plans and concepts for the future.
Gleam has developed a unique, internationally patented “Cargo eBike”. After their successful launch, we help them develop their expansion strategy, create sound financing models, find business angels for equity financing and organize a crowdfunding campaign.
Brigantes is a group of passionate sailors planning to sail the Atlantic in a renovated, 110-year-old cargo vessel, transporting coffee and other wares in its 100-tonne cargo hold. We are helping the Brigantes founders with conceiving a long-term company structure and developing financing models and assist them with their crowdfunding campaign and loans.
This innovative company combines data logging via their in-house created drones with AI and blockchain technologies in order to automate hitherto time-consuming inspection processes and integrate results directly into their clients’ IT systems. We support them with scaling, creation of pitch decks, business plans and sound financing models, procurement of business angels and institutional investors for equity financing, and their crowdfunding campaign.
The first 100 % organic kebab was developed by two passionate foodies. Whether it’s chicken, beef or fish, they offer everyone’s favorite fast food in the highest organic quality. We help them with their growth strategy, financing and opening of their first restaurant.
This long-established electrical engineering company from Salzburg developed an innovative concept for solar fences. We support their management team during negotiations with local and foreign partners. In addition, we assist them with long-term business and financial planning and creating and maintaining their crowdfunding campaign.
INVESTMENTS
Goodshares Consulting GmbH and Goodshares Beteiligungs GmbH (partnering with the EAF European Angels Fund which automatically matches all investments) are direct or indirect stakeholders (via their partners) in the following companies:
Austria’s most sustainable “Vorsorgekasse” (according to Der Börsianer) is a social enterprise and gamechanger. They invest their trust capital of nearly 800 million Euros for about 470,000 beneficiaries in meaningful causes for society and the planet. Their strategy shows a clear focus on measurable results and exclusively follows the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goodshares is a founding shareholder, with Martin Rohla on the board of directors.
KastlGreissler is a franchise of small container supermarkets offering local produce and everyday products. Individual KastlGreisslers are independent and flexible and ensure local supply in their communities. Their self-service containers offer fresh and healthy food and local specialties as well as sanitary products like shampoo and toothpaste. Short supply chains not only strengthen local producers but also benefit the environment. Containers are open up to seven days a week. In Austria, there are six franchisees with 10 containers. The first KastlGreissler in Germany will open in spring 2021.
SEITENBUNT – or LOOKMYBOOK – is your easy-peasy DIY storybook. It contains 160 stickers for coloring, multicolored glitter glue, an integrated ruler and much more for telling, painting and writing your own story. The perfect gift for loved ones! Your parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and friends will love it!
Under the brand name “Keto”, Ketofabrik produces ketogenic chocolate bars without added sugars, which are available in stores across Austria with over 1 million bars sold within the first year. At the moment, there are two flavors: coconut and strawberry. 2021 will see the launch of new products in summer and the expansion to Germany.
Ackerhelden rent out fully prepared and pre-planted allotments to urban gardeners wanting to grow and harvest their own vegetables. In Germany, Ackerhelden provides community fields with 60 to 300 lots in 17 cities. In 2020, the first organic self-harvest fields were created with the Viennese Forestry Office and Urban Agriculture, with four locations as of 2021. Goodshares is a stakeholder of both Ackerhelden Deutschland and Ackerhelden Österreich.
Habibi & Hawara is a private and independent entrepreneur incubator offering Austrian-Eastern fusion cuisine in restaurants and catering services. Their social franchise system provides refugees and migrants with stable employment and teaches them the necessary skills for independent entrepreneurship. In addition to current Viennese locations in the city center and the Nordbahnviertel, three restaurants are set to open in Seestadt, at Rochusmarkt and Siebensternplatz in May 2021. Many products created at Habibi & Hawara are available in Billa and Merkur supermarkets across Austria. Gmundner Keramik created a custom Habibi & Hawara design, available online and in all restaurants.
Goood is a virtual mobile service provider doing good without extra fees. The difference is its impact on society: Goood allows its users to support a social project of their choice with 10% of their monthly plan. After covering its costs, Goood gives back to society big time.
Swing Kitchen, founded by vegan pioneers Irene and Charly Schillinger, is the first vegan burger restaurant chain in the world. Their delicious burgers, wraps, “chicken” fingers and desserts are often better (and definitely more sustainable) than the “original”. Since 2016, Swing Kitchen has opened five restaurants in Vienna, one in Graz, two in Berlin and one in Bern. It plans to expand and is currently looking for franchise partners.
Finca Legado Ibiza is an atypical agro-touristic boutique hotel on the East side of Ibiza. Far away from the party scene, Andreas Oberkanins and Andreas Lackner provide their guests with culinary delights and a cozy atmosphere. Following an ecological philosophy, they personally see to their guests’ every whim in 14 lovingly appointed rooms.
Cutz, frozen cookie dough. For this Viennese company, cookies are a family affair. Thanks to their frozen cookie dough, their customers are able to bake delicious “home-made” cookies – no preservatives or artificial flavors needed. In the next step, Cutz will open two take-aways at highly frequented locations in 2021.
Carbomed and ILO produce a globally patented fertility tracker for natural family planning. The device tracks a woman’s cycle, reliably calculates fertile days and identify individual symptoms – just by breathing into the “Breathe ILO” for one minute per day. It is already available across Europe and its authorization as a medical device is expected in 2021.
The Craft Beer Fest is an analog and digital marketplace offering craft beer specialties from local manufacturers and international creative breweries in addition to select street food highlights. It provides visitors with the unique opportunity to get to know the emerging craft beer scene and taste a wide variety of beers. The next events are planned for fall 2021.
Wiener Woche der Würde – the “Viennese Week of Dignity” – comprises several events at various locations, where first-class speakers define the meaning of everyday dignity and gradually raise public awareness. In 2021, this event will take place in combination with the 4GAMECHANGERS Festival.
Landlust is a real estate company focused on the development and construction of low-impact homes and office buildings. Currently, a couple of old farmhouses are being renovated in the Lower Austrian Weinviertel. The company’s focus lies on maintaining existing structures while providing comfortable modern living space.
Casa Acquilea is a project development company planning to create a vegan retreat in one of the most beautiful locations in Istria. The planning phase will be completed in 2021, with construction work on the company-owned building lot set to start in 2022.
Refugium Bergmühle – and its sister location Stadtflucht Bergmühle – are located in Kronberg (Lower Austria), only 20 minutes from Vienna. It’s a place where mind, body and soul can feel at home. It provides 14,000 square feet of living space, several dining and seminar rooms, nine bedrooms, its own riding facilities and 5 acres of green space, rentable as a whole by the day. It is a place for cityfolk to enjoy the peace and quiet of nature, for friends to celebrate and for companies to find solutions in calm surroundings.
Biorama & Monopol is an innovative media and communications agency with several publications – like Biorama, the largest German-speaking sustainable lifestyle magazine. Biorama & Monopol work in the field of content and corporate publishing.
Gut Bergmühle is an organic farm north of Vienna, which supports the projects Refugium Bergmühle and Stadtflucht Bergmühle. Its nearly 99 acres of organic arable land are partly worked by its own employees and partly rented out to neighboring organic farmers.
Stadtflucht Bergmühle is only 30 minutes from the Vienna city center and calls itself the “association for cooking and leisure surrounded by nature”. Its 2.5 acres are open to its 600 members and are visited by several thousand people. Renowned chefs delight guests with specialties made from nearly all-regional organic ingredients. The location can be rented for weddings and large events and was selected as a best-practice example by Matthias Horx’s Zukunftsinstitut in its trend and potential analysis. The new season will start on the 1st of May …
A great treasure slumbers in the Lower Austrian village of Jaidhof: 170 different apple varieties are grown in traditional orchards across the meadows of the extensive township. Wildfrucht cultivates about 600 fruit trees and has been producing mono-varietal apple juice from vintage varieties since 2015. Because we need to preserve these old trees and old varieties for our children. Because the juice is really delicious. And because it is a great, alcohol-free addition to every meal – from a tart Adersleber Kalvill for your Sunday roast to a well-balanced Chrysofsker for pasta and a sweet Kronprinz Rudolf, ideal for every dessert (but especially Austrian Kaiserschmarren). In wildfrucht’s extensive treasure trove of varieties, you will find the perfect accompaniment for every dish.
Good juice comes from good apples. And the best apples grow in your own backyard. That’s why Lohnpresse gives everyone the chance to make juice from their own apples. All you need is 100+ kg of apples. With a production process specialized to small batches, we process over 100 tonnes of apples per year, making a big contribution towards the preservation of traditional meadow orchards. By giving people the opportunity to drink juice from their own apples, these trees will be more appreciated and preserved. This is important: Today, our gardens are down to 11% of trees compared to 80 years ago. The increased interest in traditional meadow orchards manifests itself in fully booked tree-cutting classes, where Christoph Mayer shows around 100 people per year how to take care of these old trees.
Martin Rohla, Goodshares founder. Born in 1963, Martin studied Business Administration at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. He is a state-licensed consultant. After his stint as a trainee at the Creditanstalt-Bankverein in New York in 1987, he has worked as a freelance entrepreneur. He founded and successfully sold several companies, ranging from IT to pharmacies, medical centers and real estate. In 2008, he was among the finalists for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Start-Ups with his project “Saint Charles Apothecary”. Since 2011, he has been an organic farmer at Gut Bergmühle. Through Goodshares Beteiligungs- und Beratungs GmbH, he is a stakeholder in more than 25 sustainable enterprises. “Habibi & Hawara”, of which he is the founder, won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019 for Social Entrepreneurship. Currently, he is part of the investor jury at the Puls4 start-up show “2 Minuten 2 Millionen”.
Christoph Mayer, founder of and partner at Goodshares Consulting. Born in 1976, Christoph studied Business Administration and Law in Graz, Vienna and Los Angeles. After graduating, he worked internationally in various roles for the automotive supplier Miba. Subsequently, he became a strategic process consultant at the Boston Consulting Group with focus on companies trading in industrial and consumer goods. As the father of three wild boys, he bid farewell to his rootless management consultant life and settled down to focus on sustainable projects. In addition to manufacturing a good night’s sleep (guut – das Bett) und producing genuine apple juice from vintage varieties (Wildfrucht), he volunteers for the preservation of vintage fruit varieties in the Waldviertel, e.g. as a board member of the Arche Noah crop diversity project. Highly coveted instructor for tree-cutting classes.
Anna Pongracz, management assistant. Born in London in 1980, Anna studied History at the University of Vienna. Her thirst for knowledge saw her traveling the world for pleasure and internships. After graduating and having three children, she supported her husband in founding two companies. This skill set and experience allows her to shine at Goodshares Consulting with her ability to disentangle the entangled and be the rock in any storm.
Bianca Hernandez, consultant. Born in 1981, Bianca has a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Sciences from BOKU Vienna (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences). Her professional expertise was honed in her parents’ restaurant, at Immofinanz AG and Kommunalkredit Public Consulting in Vienna. Her biggest talent is turning the impossible into the possible, while making it look like it’s not a big deal. This she proves every day as a working mom with a curious son and a cheerful disposition.
Janina Lebiszczak, communications. Journalist with a focus on society and culture, lifestyle, sustainability and wellness. Copywriter for corporate publishing, public relations, advertorials and advertisements. Consults large and small enterprises on their image and communication strategies. With her company MEOW Communication and her partner Tanja Mantz, she optimizes all texts, web and social media presences for Goodshares Consulting and our partner companies.
The first steps are the most challenging. In the early phases of founding the cornerstone for successful development is laid. Just providing capital is usually not enough at this point in time. BWS.INVEST sees itself as an explorer, enabler and mentor, but above all as a partner who understands entrepreneurship, who takes responsibility and gets involved in the project with the same passion as the founders themselves. With all the tools that the first sprints require, BWS.INVEST helps to use the initial energy effectively and gets the project off the ground.
