By Paul Chen
Innovation Nest is interested in building a long term
relationship with you. Until January 31, 2014 you will be able
to apply to ACCELERATE, their four month accelerator program.
Who is it for?
Teams working on SaaS products who already have a
working prototype or they launched their product but would like to move into
the new market.
How does it work?
The program starts with Customer Development
workshops, where the team work on their business model, their
Customer-Problem-Solution. Workshops last 3 weeks and are filled with
mentoring, feedback, interviews and work. This part ends with a potential
investment $25 000 for 8% of equity. Second phase is intensive trip to Silicon
Valley which is followed by 3 month work on new version of the product.
I heard something about
Silicon Valley?
Yes, we believe that Silicon Valley is a place to be
when creating a product. That's why all of the teams that we invested in are
going with us to Silicon Valley. The goal of the firs trip is to get as much
feedback on your business model and product as possible. Startups will meet
with our network of investors as well as they will have to arrange meetings on
their own.
What is expected from
Innovation Nest?
Joining ACCELERATE means joining Innovation Nest
portfolio. That means that we will try to establish a working relationship with
a company. Innovation Nest is not only a financial investor but also we try to
help companies with our knowledge, network and experiences. Once the program
finishes its not the end because usually we invest more in our companies. We
will also help to fundraise next rounds.
What is expected from the
startups?
Before answering that let's quote Steve Blank "A
startup is a temporary organization searching for a repeatable and scalable
business". We are looking for startups that are creating a SaaS(Software
as a Service) product and already have a working prototype. The program is also
looking for existing companies in the same model, who already have launched a
product but are looking for a new market that basically means we can call them
startups as well because they are still looking for a repeatable and scalable
business model. There should also be a team of people that will be able
to to work hard on their product and try to validate all of the
hypotheses they created during our program.
Why ACCELERATE?
ACCELERATE is a bit different then other accelerators
in Poland. First of all it's the only one that is launching 4th edition. That
means we are constantly improving it and we already have experience how to
create a program that is fulfilling startup needs. The program itself is
created in a way that is actually fostering startups. It has three phases which
help to get a bigger picture about your product and whom is it for. If
everything goes right Innovation Nest is willing to invest more in startups
that participated in the program.
Innovation Nest organize as well as sponsor many
startup events in Krakow in the efforts of building a collaborating
community. They believe that as important as investor/ mentor to startup
relationship is, startup to other startup relationship is just as
important.
Any previous success stories?
Landingi.com - Easy and fast landing pages.
Cloud your Car - Fleet management made easy.
Visuu - selected by South Moravian Innovation
Centre as one of the most promising high-tech startups
UxPin - Attracted investors like Andreessen-Horowitz,
about to announce their fund raising results.
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