OP Lab is the startup collaboration unit of OP, a major Finnish bank. They seek startups to purchase innovations from as an early adopter, while also seeking for more mature startups to acquire.
Their focus is on solutions that are linked to fields of banking, insurance & finance in general. Fields such as fintech, insurtech, AI, biometrics, customer experience, and loyalty etc. are of interest to them.
They’re happy to connect with startups that are interested in the Finnish market.
Access 4 Future is a market entry program for startups wishing to help people in the target countries get better access to healthcare: India, Niger, Philippines, Egypt, Thailand.
The program’s support includes connections locally (piloting), regionally and globally (scalability) and covers startups’ piloting costs. Each location has a different challenge for startups to help in, and they have different application periods during autumn 2020. Challenges include for example furthering the education and training of doctors.
The chosen solutions have to be scaleable. For example a solution that will be piloted in two hospitals might later expand to the state, then the country and finally internationally.
Salo IoT Campus is a community of high-tech companies, researchers and educational instutitions working together on a daily basis. They have over 100 companies and 2 000 people on working and studying on their campus.
They offer versatile premises, comprehensive services and an active expert community. They are seeking more companies and partners to join them in making a smarter future.
They’re based in Salo, Finland, approximately one hour from Helsinki.
Sampo Accelerator is a no-equity 3.5-week acceleration program ran by Mike Bradshaw, who was the Head Coach of Startup Sauna when that acceleration program was active. The program includes follow-up meetings and checkups after the program to support the founders’ growth path.
The program is optimized for first-time growth company founders. They’re looking for companies around launch, with a working demo but without significant customer numbers. The solution will be evaluated too when applying, but teams are the main focus. Teams typically have to have background in design or product development (ability to build a solution and generate interesting ideas).
The program is free until the company generates €1M of revenue profitably, at which point the company is suggested to make a small contribution to the accelerator’s founder community.
The coaches each have over three years of experience in building startups. They’re not investors, which enables them to offer an independent point of view.
Sampo Accelerator is ran three times a year, starting typically around October, January and April. They also organize a social gathering for alumni and coaches twice a year: the week before midsummer and around the time of Slush.
The Founder Institute runs two pre-seed acceleration programs in Finland: a general one for all founders, as well as a Global Center of Excellence for Food Ecosystems, interested in all food-related solutions.
Their program works for all founders, even those who don’t have an idea yet, until the stage of having good sales and the first professional investor on board.
The programs cost €599/€799 (early bird/regular fee), with a possibility to get a stipend to cover the costs. The participants also commit to a 4% warrant.
Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator seeks innovative startups within four critical areas of the energy sector: oil and gas, new business models, digitization and renewables. Equinor is a leading energy corporation in Norway, and the program’s physical parts take place in Oslo.
Techstars is a leading startup accelerator that has invested into over 2,100 companies and helped them raise $9.3B since 2007. They run approx. 50 programs every year, each investing into 10 companies.
Their application period for 2020 program is open until 11.10.2020, and the next application period will be open from July to October 2021, for the program that will take place in February 2022.
Techstars acceleration programs include a $20k stipend for running expenses and an optional $100k convertible loan in addition to the programs’ coaching and the network membership, in exchange for a 6% stake in the company (or higher based on the conversion rate on next round).
Techstars Ventures also does follow-on investments into their best performing portfolio companies, having co-led an investment round with Equinor of €4M. Many other funds also invest into Techstars companies.
Ericsson Ventures is the CVC arm of Ericsson, the network company. They’re interested in everything very network-related: cloud technology, cyber security, AI, 5G etc. They’re focusing on B2B software, but will look at B2G and hardware cases as well. They look especially for companies who want into the telecom market.
Vitosha Venture Partners invests into startups that have a connection with Bulgaria, or willing to establish one. For example a sales team’s office or a development unit.
They do not invest into gambling or similar types of startups.
APX invests into early stage software companies in Europe and Israel and offers them a 100-day tailormade acceleration program. After the program they usually invest more pro rata.
They’re backed by Porsche, the luxury car manufacturer, and Axel Springer, the biggest media company in Europe. They have an extensive network of industrial connections in Germany, including the globally leading companies in multiple fields.
Their main value add is in business development. They focus on companies who are ready to sell at least a pilot version to customers already.
Their initial investment is always €50k for 5% ownership stake. They also offer office in Berlin for four months for free. They invest into over 40 companies per year.
Buildit Latvia is a hardware-focused accelerator in Riga, Latvia. They invest into many startups in their program. Among its usual benefits the program acts as a due diligence for both sides to see if it’s a good time to work together for a longer term and make and take the investment.
They invest €20-50k initially from their pre-seed fund on companies. They can later follow up with up to €250k with their seed fund. For the pre-seed investments, the teams need to incorporate in Latvia. At the seed stage, they don’t need to stay there. All the companies they take in have to be willing and able to move into Latvia.
They have a preference for B2B, but take in companies with all client types.