Product type: Pharma

Sampo Accelerator

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 Finland & Global Center of Excellence for Food Ecosystems

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.

Vitosha Venture Partners

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.

Northbound Startups

Northbound Startups is a cross-border accelerator program between Finland (Turku), Sweden (Västerås) and Estonia (Tallinn). They help startups build their business and get an investment from local and international investors. They connect startups to investors, mentors, buyers etc. from all three areas, boosting the startups’ ability to work across the Baltic sea. The program is free for startups.

The two-year project offers two comprehensive acceleration programs. one per year. Application period for autumn 2020 program is open from 15.6.2020 until mid-August and the program begins in September 2020 and ends in March 2021. The dates for the second batch are approx a month earlier in 2021.

The program collaborates with institutional investors, investor networks and other accelerator and incubator programs, such as Turku BusinessUp.

Previous similar programs, like Springboard, ignited multiple startups that got a great international start in 2 or 3 countries and cities through the program.

Redstone

Redstone has six funds and 50 CVC partners. Their funds and sectors are listed in https://www.redstone.vc/sector-funds/. They are especially interested in industry 4.0, fintech, proptech, mobility, bio materials & agrotech.

Finnish Business Angels Network (FIBAN)

One of the largest business angel networks in the world with 650 members.

Ticket range of most angels is €5-100k, median ticket size is €20k. Syndicates may invest up to €1M. Median syndicate size is €200k.

 

Smart Chemistry Park

Smart Chemistry Park is the bio and circular economy startup and innovation hub of Turku Science Park. They offer premises and infrastructure for chemistry-related startups and a network of innovators. They’re a part of the wider Clean Turku network.

Their infrastructure helps mostly startups with a a need for laboratory facilities and physical piloting, but digital-only solutions are also welcome to the network. The premises are suitable also for many pharmaceutical development projects.

 

ProHealth Accelerator

ProHealth Accelerator can be thought of more like a hub than a typical accelerator. They have a network of mentors, potential customers and other resources for health startups. Applications are ongoing, and there is no formal acceleration program, but they organize expert events, workshops and other forms of support for their members.

Their support is focused on helping commercialize health innovations. Most of their members’ are selling their solutions to professionals (B2B, B2B2C, B2G), but B2C solutions are also possible.

They have a partnership with Verstas Labs, whose open business premises ProHealth members have access to. Verstas also offers laboratory and private business premises for rent, with the laboratory equipment and maintenance included.

Participating companies have to be based in or move to Finland.

Kiuas

Kiuas is a completely free and possibly the most well-known student-led accelerator in Finland. It’s completely free. In addition to the program itself, participating startups will get a toolbox of startup goodies, including free cloud platform credits etc.

Application period for the summer 2020 program is until Wed 20.5.2020. Autumn batch will likely be held in October-November, with application period in September.

The program is usually held onsite in Espoo, Finland, but the summer 2020 program is held as a remote, virtual one. The program is focused for helping startups integrate with their alumni and mentor community in Finland, so any non-Finnish startups that apply should be ready to move to Finland.

Their spring and autumn batches are three-week pre-acceleration programs called Kiuas Start, for which idea stage startups are welcome. The main program in the summer requires the team to have a working solution already. The nine-week main program focuses on developing product-market fit, customer relationships, team and culture building for growth, and preparing for funding rounds.

Accelerace

Accelerace’s acceleration programs are based in Denmark, but most can be participated in remotely. All their programs are free of charge, no equity taken. They have an extensive network of corporate partners internationally, especially in Europe.

Most of their programs can be participated in remotely, but some may require either physical presence or a registered in Denmark.

Their focus areas are life science, sound, energy, food and beverage, entertainment, IoT. They run more than one program per year per average in each of their focus areas, and typically at least one program’s application period is open on any given time.

They have a fund to invest in the best of their participating startups. The investment tickets are 500k DKK, which is approximately €65k. These investments are done as a convertible note, and are completely optional for the startup to accept or not. It’s done as a co-investment, so the startup has to have another investor investing a minimum of 125k DKK (approx €17k) at the same time. Accelerace is happy to help find suitable investors.

Their life science tech startup mentorship program is highly rated in the Nordics. Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland. It’s funded by the Novo Nordic foundation.

They also partner with Overkill Ventures in Riga, Latvia.