Celonis launches €500,000 Aspire Fund to combat educational inequality by removing financial barriers

Many young people face significant barriers, especially when it comes to secondary education, which is crucial for employment, well-being, and citizenship. Ongoing support and investment in education, such as funding of learning supplies and establishing measures for inclusion or removing language barriers, means the landscape of possibilities and skills can be transformed for the next generation.

Celonis is a Munich, Germany-based tech startup that wants to reverse this trend. Today, Celonis announced the launch of its €500,000 global Celonis Aspire program to support equal access to education and combats educational inequality by removing financial barriers and helping turn educational dreams into real opportunities for global youth. The program was inspired by Celonis receiving the German President’s Award in 2019.

The Aspire Fund was backed by a €500,000 donation by its founders and a sponsorship program run by Celonis employees. According to the company, individuals and organizations can apply online or nominate a deserving candidate with a creative pitch for financial funding. Employees from Celonis will become sponsors of Celonis Aspire, providing additional non-financial support to help applicants achieve their educational dreams. The application process is fast and light-touch. Potential candidates should visit the Celonis Aspire website for more details.

The award also recognizes companies with outstanding ideas and innovations that pave the way for new industry advancements – making future-proof impacts on the industry as a whole, as well as benefiting science and technology consumers around the world. Celonis Aspire aims to give back to society, reflecting the support that Celonis’ founders received as part of their education.

Founded in 2011 by Alexander Rinke, Bastian Nominacher, and Martin Klenk, Celonis provides an AI-enhanced process mining and automated business process discovery solutions for analyzing and visualizing business processes worldwide. Its solutions analyze procurement, human resource, information technology service management, logistics, production, accounting, sales, audit, and other branch-specific processes through on-premise installation or SaaS implementation aspects. The company also offers process mining technology that helps visualize, analyze, and improve company processes.

Bastian Nominacher, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Celonis says: “Education unlocks equality and is particularly important at times of immense change like we are experiencing right now. Enhancing access to education improves the overall health and resilience of communities, promotes economic growth, and even fights climate change. The privilege of gaining free access to high-quality education enabled the founders of Celonis to build a successful company. We recognize and appreciate our good fortune and hope that Celonis Aspire will open doors for more people to benefit from the educational opportunities we enjoyed.”

Celonis’ process excellence technology leverages process mining, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to remove barriers and friction from processes preventing people and organizations from achieving their goals. The company aims to align everything it does around “The Celonis Way”, its recently published values statement which captures how it operates and collaborates across every aspect of the business. Celonis Aspire is inspired by the belief that “Earth is our Future” and Celonis strives to create a better and more sustainable future for the society and the planet.