3 Tech Accelerators in Europe Currently Receiving Applications

Are you looking for European tech accelerators that are currently receiving applications to help you take your startup to the next level?

Here are 3 tech accelerators based in Europe currently receiving applications:

1. Techcelerator

Locations: Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Equity: 6%

Techcelerator is a program run by local fund GapMinder with the support of EU funds. The program offers financing of up to EUR 100,000 for selected startups against a stake in the company.

Mission

Techcelerator’s vision is to reposition Romania on the world map of leading innovative startups that will reshape the world of tomorrow and offer a higher life quality.

This accelerator program is interested in supporting startups in the following industries: FinTech, MedTech, AI, CyberSecurity, Digital Transformation, Hardware and Mobile.

Program

The selected startups receive the 1st round of funding: euro 25,000 for 6% equity. They enter a 10-week program of intense mentoring and one-to-one meetings with business experts.

At the end of the program they have the opportunity to show their product to VCs, angel investors, tech press journalists etc and get a second round of up to euro 75,000. Techcelerator will take the most promising startups to participate in competitions and meet investors around the world.

Benefits:

• Google Cloud services;
• Free digital accounting tool;
• Public relations package;
• Marketing support;
• Scalability services;
• Constant networking;
• Horizontal support;
• Individual mentorship;
• Professional workshops;
• Startup demoday;
• Marketing services;
• Intensive edu sessions.

Application date:

Techcelerator is currently taking applications for October 2018 – February 2019 – apply here.

Application deadline is September 20, 2018.

2. TechFounders Accelerator

Location: Munich, Germany

Equity: zero

TechFounders is an accelerator program, which brings tech startups together with industry partners and venture capitalists.

Mission

The aim of the TechFounders program is to get startups one of their industry partners as a high-class customer or investor. At Demo Day selected startups have the great opportunity to raise capital if needed and meet more than 100 VC’s, business angels, industry partners and press.

Program

TechFounders offers a unique program to their startups – a 20-week program. During this program the selected startups will get intensive trainings and coaching on all kinds of business topics.

Also the startup founders will get to collaborate with a leading industry partner to further develop their product or service, with a € 25,000 project budget.

Benefits:

• Free office space and administrative support;
• Access to TechFounders’ 1,500m2 high-tech workshop MakerSpace and AI computing power;
• Intensive coaching and mentoring by 200 VC’s, serial entrepreneurs and experts;
• Demo Day attended by 100+ VCs, business angels, industry partners and press members;
• Direct access to industry partners, such as ADAC, BMW Group, Festo, Knorr-Bremse and Miele.

Application date:

TechFounders is currently taking applications for the 2019 winter batch – apply here.

Application deadline is September 30, 2018.

3. SEK Lab EdTech Accelerator

Location: Madrid, Spain

Equity: zero

SEK Educational Group is an innovator with more than 125 years experience in education. Their program is the SEK Lab EdTech Accelerator designed for startups in beta testing. The program helps startups in the seed and early stage improve their company and business model.

Mission

The SEK Educational Group is looking for innovators to improve education.

Program

The SEK Lab EdTech Accelerator is a 6-month program. During this program the selected startups have the opportunity to validate and test their business in a pure educational ecosystem.

The startup founders and team receive mentoring from more than 20 mentors experts in education, technology, apps etc. They also participate in master classes from top speakers on various subjects: law, finance, business model, app, technology, growth hacking, lean sales, marketing etc.

Benefits:

• Free access to SEK Educational Group co-working space;
• Access to top IT solutions for free from their sponsors (Hosting, CRM, Software…);
• Access to their network and top clients (Microsoft, Dell, Vodafone, Apple, Intel…);
• Networking events and speaking opportunities;
• Different awards and benefits from their sponsors at the end of the program;
• Demo day with more than 20 investors, accelerators and corporates;
• 2 vacancies for a virtual acceleration.

Application date:

SEK Lab EdTech Accelerator is currently taking applications for December 2018 – May 2019 – apply here.

Application deadline is September 15, 2018.

Pick the accelerator program that suits your startup idea and develop it into a full-fledged company.

The world needs more industry-changers like yourself!

The Role Accelerators Play For An Entrepreneurial Business

Nine out of ten startups fail. A statistic that sounds cruel and harsh, but that puts us with our feet on the ground. When one starts a business it does it with passion and hard work, investing all his/hers precious time and energy,with the hope to make it big or just simply make his /her dream come true or being on their own and share with the rest of the people a little bit of what makes them happy.

After deciding to take the leap and starting something of your own, one hardly thinks about giving up or about failure. Still, Gerard Adams from entrepreneur.com, points out that it’s almost impossible for people to create monumental success by themselves. “When we run blindly into business, thinking we can do everything on our own, without consulting with someone who’s been there before — it truly is a recipe for disaster. We’ve all been over-confident before, but the success of any empire is contingent upon the willingness to learn from the mistakes and achievements of others. It’s simply a fact that if you want to make a mark, it’s important to review the marks that have been made,” said Adams.

At this point in time mentorships, workshops and other business helpers are extremely important. An entrepreneur needs to learn from other people’s successes, but also from failures. And that, first hand, face-to-face. To be able to ask questions directly, as to the point as possible. “Startup accelerators and mentorship programs have grown in popularity as we’ve seen the huge upsurge of online entrepreneurship as well as the growth of service-based businesses and entrepreneurial ventures in general. In a 2013 survey by MicroMentor [a private business mentorship organization] mentored businesses increased their revenue by 83 percent. Those without mentorship only increased their revenue by 16 percent. This was over the course of a year,” explained further more Gerard Adams.

Accelerators are designed to prevent startups’ premature deaths. According to smallbiztrends.com, over the course of the last decade, the number of accelerators operating across the globe has skyrocketed. According to AngelList, a digital platform that helps to pair promising young startups with investors, there was only one American accelerator in operation in 2005. Today, there are 578, writes Scott Shane, professor of entrepreneurial studies at Case Western Reserve University and a regular contributor at Small Business Trends.

Accelerators are organizations that offer a range of support services and funding opportunities for startups. They tend to work by enrolling startups in months-long programs that offer mentorship, office space and supply chain resources. More importantly, business accelerator programs offer access to capital and investment in return for startup equity. “Startups essentially ‘graduate’ from their accelerator program after three or four months — which means that development projects are time-sensitive and very intensive. The primary reason accelerators have exploded in popularity is because they are designed to provide the best of both worlds for both startups as well as investors,” added smallbiztrends.com.

Susan Cohen of the University of Richmond and Yael Hochberg of Rice University highlight the four distinct factors that make accelerators unique: they are fixed-term, cohort-based, and mentorship-driven, and they culminate in a graduation or “demo day.” None of the other previously mentioned early-stage institutions — incubators, angel investors, or seed-stage venture capitalists — have these collective elements. Accelerators may share with these others the goal of cultivating early-stage startups, but it is clear that they are different, with distinctly different business models and incentive structures.

“I was able to identify 172 U.S.-based accelerators in existence during the 2005–2015 period. Collectively, they invested in more than 5,000 U.S. startups. During this period, these companies have raised a total of $19.5 billion in funding, a number that will surely increase as accelerator programs continue to turn out companies and recent graduates work their way to maturity. Accelerator graduates that went on to raise additional venture capital investment had a median valuation of $15.6 million during this period, and an average valuation of $90 million. Some very well-known companies belong to this group, including “unicorns” AirBnB, Dropbox, and Stripe, among others,” wrote Ian Hathaway for hbr.org.