In April 2008, Professor Muhammad Yunus visited Germany. A first contact between Grameen and BASF, one of Hans Reitz's clients, was established. Together with Mr. Hambrecht, CEO of BASF, they developed an idea of a Joint Venture between BASF and Grameen.
During 2008, Professor Yunus and Hans Reitz deepened their relationship and agreed on a close collaboration. Hans Reitz became Professor Yunus' creative advisor and friend.
In January 2009, this relationship was formalized - The Grameen Creative Lab was founded as a Joint Venture between the Yunus Centre in Bangladesh and circ-responsibility, a PR consulting company in Germany. Their shared vision has been to fight poverty by accelerating Grameen Social Business. Its first success was the Joint Venture between Grameen and BASF.
The Grameen Creative Lab is a Grameen Social Business itself. We finance ourselves through the products and services within each pillar. Any profits will be reinvested into further accelerating Grameen Social Business and sharing Grameen’s and Professor Yunus’ concepts and ideas with companies, universities, NGOs, students, investors and more.