THE NEW INSTITUTE

What THE NEW INSTITUTE does

THE NEW INSTITUTE Foundation gGmbH is a privately funded non-profit research foundation initiated in 2016 by German entrepreneur Erck Rickmers and headquartered at the Warburg Ensemble in Hamburg, Germany. Its core product was a fellowship program composed of year-long collaborative research groups, each typically led by a program chair with approximately three fellows, organized around annual themes such as 'Re-thinking Capitalism' (2024/25), 'Planetary Governance,' 'Black Feminism and the Polycrisis,' and 'Governing the Planetary Commons.' The institute also published books, policy reports, and annual reports — primarily through academic publisher transcript Verlag — and hosted public events, conferences, and lectures, including the Helтри-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis co-organized with Die ZEIT and the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung. It funded four international research centres at Humboldt University Berlin, University of Cambridge, UC Santa Barbara, and Ca' Foscari Venice, building a multi-continent academic network of approximately 140 fellows across its operating years.

The institute's revenue model is foundation funding from its founder and does not generate commercial revenue; participation in fellowship programs and access to publications is free. It is governed by a Board of Trustees including Prof. Dr. Sabine Kunst and Prof. Dr. Burkhard Schwenker, with Dr. Britta Padberg and Dr. Anna Katsman serving as Managing Directors. In summer 2025, THE NEW INSTITUTE discontinued its fellowship program, citing the difficulty of sustaining trans-sectoral collaboration within a one-year residency model and challenges attracting outstanding academics for full-year stays. The foundation indicated it would continue to document its work and develop new funding formats for societal issues, but the operational footprint is contracting from its 2024/25 peak.

Name

THE NEW INSTITUTE

Legal name

THE NEW INSTITUTE Foundation gGmbH

Website

https://thenew.institute

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

THE NEW INSTITUTE is a Hamburg-based non-profit research foundation that ran year-long interdisciplinary fellowship programs on systemic challenges such as capitalism, planetary governance, and democracy, serving scholars and policy practitioners until it discontinued its fellowship program in summer 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Think Tank / Policy Research

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research Grants, Fellowships & Stipends (International) (EDAIAOAJ), Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK), Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)

Keywords

• Non-profit research institute
• Interdisciplinary fellowship
• Policy think tank
• Academic publications
• Research events

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Foundation Funding: THE NEW INSTITUTE operates as a non-profit foundation (gGmbH) funded primarily by its founder Erck Rickmers. The institute does not generate commercial revenue but relies on foundation funding to support its fellowship programs, research activities, and operational costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

THE NEW INSTITUTE Foundation gGmbH is a non-profit research institute that operates year-long interdisciplinary fellowship programmes, including the Hamburg Fellowship Programme and the Africapitalism programme in Nairobi, where selected scholars and practitioners collaborate on questions concerning capitalism and society. The institute produces open-access publications including books, reports, and policy briefs, and hosts public events to disseminate research findings to academic, policy, and civil society audiences.

Product overview

THE NEW INSTITUTE is a research institute (not a technology product company) that operates a fellowship program model with year-long collaborative research groups. Its core offerings include: (1) Fellowship Programs with approximately three fellows per program led by a program chair, exploring research themes including Re-thinking Capitalism (2024/25 annual theme), Beyond Capitalism, Africapitalism, Futures of Capitalism, The Future of Food, Planetary Governance, and Bitter Victory; (2) Publications including books, policy reports, and academic papers; (3) Events including conferences, workshops, lectures, film releases, and a reading club; (4) The Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis annual award. The institute also funds four research centers at partner universities. In summer 2025, the fellowship program was discontinued.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fellowship Programmes Year-long interdisciplinary fellowship programmes (Hamburg Fellowship Programme and the Africapitalism programme in Nairobi) where selected scholars and practitioners conduct residential research on systemic societal challenges including capitalism, sustainability, and economic transformation.
• Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis Award An institutional prize awarded by the foundation recognizing innovative policy ideas and contributions to addressing systemic societal challenges.

Quantifiable outcome

• 140 Fellows completed programs by end of academic year 2024/25
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• DFG Research Group 'Futures of Sustainability' at University of HamburgminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 March 2025Joint workshop 'Degrowth, Planning, Transformation' hosted by the DFG Research Group and THE NEW INSTITUTE, exploring restructuring and deconstructing economies of the Global North in response to the climate crisis.
• Frankfurt Book FairminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 October 2024THE NEW INSTITUTE participated in Frankfurt Book Fair's cultural-political program 'Frankfurt Calling' with two events featuring fellows and alumni.
• Süddeutsche ZeitungminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 16 October 2024Co-hosted the event 'NEXUS - into the future with a system reboot?' featuring Yuval Noah Harari and Kohei Saito at Frankfurt Book Fair.
• Goethe University FrankfurtminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 October 2024Co-hosted the Frankfurt Book Fair event 'NEXUS - into the future with a system reboot?' with Süddeutsche Zeitung and THE NEW INSTITUTE.
• Co-creating Inclusive Intersectional Democratic Spaces across Europe (CCINDLE)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2024Co-sponsored the 'Reading Our Futures' workshop with THE NEW INSTITUTE's Black Feminism and the Polycrisis program. CCINDLE is a Horizon Europe research project focused on inclusive democratic spaces.
• Earth System Governance NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2023THE NEW INSTITUTE program 'Governing the Planetary Commons' works in conjunction with the Earth System Governance Network. Louis Kotzé serves as Co-Chair of the Network's Scientific Steering Committee. The partnership facilitates research collaboration and knowledge exchange on global governance issues.
• Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-StiftungcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 April 2022The Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung co-founds and co-organizes the annual Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftpreis (Helmut Schmidt Future Prize) with THE NEW INSTITUTE and Die ZEIT. The prize recognizes innovative achievements in democracy, society, and technology, awarded to international personalities who positively impact their time. Prize amount is 20,000 Euro.
• Die ZEITcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 April 2022Die ZEIT newspaper partners with THE NEW INSTITUTE and Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung to co-organize the annual Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftpreis. The partnership includes a Zukunftsfestival as part of the 'Lange Nacht der ZEIT'.
• Alexander von Humboldt FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Louis Kotzé is an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow. Multiple fellows at THE NEW INSTITUTE are Humboldt Fellows, conducting research at German institutions through Humboldt Foundation fellowships.
• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohan Rockström, Director of PIK and Professor of Earth System Science, co-led the paper 'The Planetary Commons: A New Paradigm for Safeguarding Earth-regulating Systems in the Anthropocene' with THE NEW INSTITUTE's Louis Kotzé. This represents a major research collaboration between THE NEW INSTITUTE and PIK.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS): Dutch residential fellowship institute hosting interdisciplinary scholars; similar model of themed cohorts and cross-sectoral engagement, though smaller in scale.
• Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton): The archetype for residential, interdisciplinary fellowship-based research institutions; THE NEW INSTITUTE explicitly mirrors this model with its Warburg Ensemble residency and year-long program structure.
• Santa Fe Institute: Independent research center for complex systems science with visiting researcher programs; comparable as a privately funded interdisciplinary research institution operating outside traditional academia.
• Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: Berlin-based Institute for Advanced Study that hosts year-long residential fellowships for distinguished scholars across disciplines; directly comparable to THE NEW INSTITUTE's discontinued Warburg Ensemble residency model.
• Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study: Harvard's institute offering year-long residential fellowships to leading scholars and practitioners across disciplines; closely comparable operating model and target audience of interdisciplinary researchers.
• Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald: German residential fellowship institute founded by the Krupp Foundation offering year-long stays to international researchers; the closest German structural analogue to THE NEW INSTITUTE.

Broad incumbents

• Chatham House: Major international affairs think tank with fellowship-style research programs on global governance and economics; broader scope but overlapping audience of policy makers and academic researchers.
• Berlin Social Science Center (WZB): Large German public research institute producing interdisciplinary social science with policy relevance; broader portfolio than THE NEW INSTITUTE but overlapping themes in democracy, governance, and inequality.
• The Brookings Institution: Large U.S. policy think tank producing research on economic transformation, governance, and society; shares THE NEW INSTITUTE's policy-oriented interdisciplinary research output, though with much broader scale.

Others

• Volkswagen Foundation: Germany's largest private science foundation; comparable as a private non-profit funding academic research, but operates as a pure funder rather than a host institution.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC8dICEY_BzjLqHXuvfEI1Cw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/thenewinstitute
• Instagraminstagram.com/thenew.institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about THE NEW INSTITUTE