Application for prEXCELerator 2019 Now Open
Applications are now open for Strategy+Business Lab prEXCELerator 2019. This year the pre-accelerator will cover fifteen different industries and provide access to more than a hundred experts in different areas.
What distinguishes the prEXCELerator is that participation is not mandatorily linked to the establishment of a legal entity during or following the validation stage. Participation in the prEXCELerator and the access to the resources provided is not connected to a requirement for equity in the newly-established entities in exchange for the service. The participants will have access not only to mentors but also to the expertise and professional network of more than a hundred experts in fifteen Advisory boards, categorised by industries. The start-ups that will be approved at the end of the prEXCELerator by the Advisory boards as successfully validated or pivoted will have access to not just one but various sources of funding, both local or external with direct access to markets outside Bulgaria.
There are no age restrictions for individual candidates, or specific requirements for the companies. However, projects for products or services will be accepted if they provide industry solution applying at least one of the thirteen digital technologies in the focus of the prEXCELerator. Hybrid ideas could be in a stage of validation or looking for funding, new markets expansion, or shifting to a new strategy (pivoting). The programme in 2019 aims to attract not only IT engineers but also specialists from the entire engineer sphere and all industries.
Projects are required to fulfil two eligible criteria in order to apply as ideas with a hybrid application:
- – To aim at least at one of the following sectors: construction, engineering, IT, production, real estate management, social entrepreneurship, automobile industry, education, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, food technology, building materials, financial services, tourism, trade in FMCG;
- – At the same time, ideas should be based on developing or applying solutions from at least one of the following digital technologies: robotics, IoT, drones, 3D printing, Big data, cloud storage, AI, blockchain, AR, digital platforms, cybersecurity, software.
The applicants will go through two selection stages. The first one is an interview and the successful candidates will be admitted to the three-week preparatory phase of the prEXCELerator. The teams will be prepared for the first event when they will be allowed to present their ideas in front of the expert Advisory boards. After this second stage, ten startups from each of the fifteen industries will be allowed to go to the validation process.
The application deadline is 15 May 2019.
Strategy+ Business Lab organises several open events in Sofia and Plovdiv for companies interested in the pre-accelerator programme as part of the application window. The meetings will be moderated by industry experts.
Upcoming events in Sofia:
March 13 – BIOTECH: Which digital technologies and trends will transform the Health, Medical & Pharma for the next 5 years
March 20 – PROPTECH: Which digital technologies and trends will transform the construction industry and the related fields for the next 5 years
April 17 – Business Transformation via Business Model Improvement
May 8 – Meeting with the ADVISORY BOARDS of the PrEXCELerator
June 6 – 3D printing technologies in industrial manufacturing, medicine and architecture
June 19 – Digital technologies and social enterprise
All upcoming events are open, but pre-registration is required.
More about each event, registration links, as well as a link to the application form for the prEXCELerator can also be found on the prEXCELerator’s website.
Corporate investors looking for external innovations can also take part in the PrEXCELerator. Interested investors can join the pre-accelerator Advisory Boards. This will grant them direct access to the ideas and teams they are interested in.
About Strategy+ Business Lab
Strategy+ Business Lab is a corporate lab with a wide network of local and international experts, start-up mentors and entrepreneurs to advise companies in Europe. The company has its own know-how for diagnostic and effective solving of complex organisational problems. The organisation works with both early stage and already scaled companies. Strategy+ Business Lab is also the official exclusive partner for Bulgaria of FUTURE: Proptech – the largest international network for PropTech start-ups.
