Accelerator / Acceleration

Accelerators specialize in investing in and supporting startup companies. Suitable partners for businesses about to enter the market and startups in their first or second year of operation.

At the beginning of a startup 's life journey, you can get the first external help from incubators. For later-stage startups with an existing product or prototypes, accelerators are the right partner within the within the startup ecosystem. Accelerators help and speed up the development of the appropriate operating model. It is during this period of their life-cycle that these companies first become suitable for attracting business angel investor or seed capital. 

The goal of the acceleration program is to get startups on the path to rapid growth as soon as possible. During the program, these businesses should acquire market knowledge and a network of contacts that can help them in product development, business development and effective market access. 

An important element of such a program is the involvement of mentors. With their professional knowledge and previous experience, the mentors offer a lot of useful advice to the managers of the companies participating in the accelerator program. What kind of large enterprises and investors these businesses can meet during the acceleration is also of key importance. Acquiring the right partners and creating financing greatly influences the future of startups.

The so-called "seed accelerators" give selected companies an investment between 20-50 thousand USD at the start of the program. This money is usually spent by startups on the establishment of the operation and further development.

Application to accelerators is open in most cases and available to any innovative startup. However, the competition is huge, especially in internationally recognized accelerator programs. It is important that during such a program the accelerators focus on the teams implementing the business idea and not on individuals. 

The program is usually 3-4 months long. At the end of the period, startups that have "graduated" from acceleration can present themselves at a demo day or fair. At these presentations, they can attract the attention of venture capital corporations thinking about larger investments.