Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - STARTUP- SCALEUP (Scaling up entrepreneurial hubs to Europe)

Teaser

The aim of the Startup Scaleup innovation action has been to build a European accelerator around four consolidated entrepreneurial ecosystems (Cartagena-Madrid, Zotermeer, Vilnius and Dublin) providing a greater range and quality of services to ambitious entrepreneurs who want...

Summary

The aim of the Startup Scaleup innovation action has been to build a European accelerator around four consolidated entrepreneurial ecosystems (Cartagena-Madrid, Zotermeer, Vilnius and Dublin) providing a greater range and quality of services to ambitious entrepreneurs who want to launch and grow companies focused on the Internet of Things (IoT).

The program was designed to provide the best support to startups from across Europe and beyond. In comparison to various common acceleration programs it was imperative that Startup Scaleup was specifically adapted to the continuous engagement and needs of participating companies that may not be physically present in the localities of the associated hubs. With this in mind, the program was developed to operate on a hybrid level, whereby the companies benefit from online/distance participation reinforced by face-to-face events and removing the requirements and costs to relocate to participate. This enabled them to thrive within their existing facilities and networks while growing their European character and network.

Therefore, the program was conceived, reviewed and adapted throughout two years (2015-2016) to find a suitable balance between engagement and burden of participation.

The first cycle began on 1st October 2015 and ended on 30th April 2016 (seven months). After reviewing the program by taking in account the experience of the 1st cycle, the second cycle began on July 1st 2016 and ended on November 30th 2016 (5 months). The final program (2nd cycle) consisted of an initial kick-off week in each of the hub, monthly follow-ups by Skype or phone, group catch-ups, midpoint meet-ups, international events, final meet-ups complemented by continuous Slack channels, and informative AMA sessions and thematic sprints.

Work performed

The main activities carried out from the beginning of the project (1 Jan 2015) to the end of the period (31 Dec 2016) covered by the current report are the following:

Design and development of services (1 Jan 2015 - 30 Sep 2015)
1st version of on-line platforms, set-up and continuous maintenance (1 Apr 2015 - 30 Sep 2015)
Definition Open Calls (1 Jan 2015 -20 Jun 2015)
Call for the 1st Acceleration Program, launch and selection of candidates (1 Jul 2015 - 30 Sep 2015)
2nd version of on-line platforms, set-up and continuous maintenance (1 Oct 2015 - 30 Apr 2016)
Execution of the 1st acceleration program (30 Oct 2015 - 30 Abr 2016)
Continuous adjustment & improvement of services (1 Oct 2015. 30 Apr 2016)
Call for the 2nd Acceleration Program, launch and selection of candidates (1 Apr 2016 - 30 Apr 2016)
Execution of the 2nd acceleration program (1 Jul 2016 - 30 Nov 2016)
Definition of Communication Plan (1 Jan 2015 - 30 Jun 2015)
Continuous dissemination and communication activities (1 Feb 2015 - 30 Apr 2016)
Attend to Startup Europe Events .
Links of collaboration with others members of Startup Europe (Welcome, My Way, …)

The main results achieved in the 2nd round were:

4 Hubs joined (Cartagena-Madrid, Dublín, Zotermeer and Vilnius)
364 applications from 47 countries received in the 2nd acceleration program
82 Startups from 23 countries begin the program
77 Startups from 17 countries finish the program
7,1 M€ raised, mainly seed rounds

The main results achieved in the 1st round of the acceleration program were:

4 Hubs joined (Cartagena-Madrid, Dublín, Zotermeer and Vilnius)
175 applications from 30 countries received in the 1st acceleration program
50 Startups from 17 countries begin the program
39 Startups from 13 countries finish the program
3 M€ raised, mainly seed rounds

Final results

The resulting STARTUP SCALEUP ecosystem has contributed to achieve the expected impact of Topic ICT-13-2014 as follows:

1.Implementation of the Startup Europe Initiative. STARTUP SCALEUP online platform has been connected with the Startup Europe EU initiative publishing the different actions launched within Startup Europe and stimulating the ecosystem member´s participation related to skills and education, access to talent, access to capital, leadership and support to make starting up a company faster and cheaper anywhere in Europe. With this action, we have pursuit to “contribute to shaping future web entrepreneurship specific policies, in particular for the implementation of Startup Europe initiative”.

2. Creation of a new innovative environment. STARTUP SCALEUP ecosystem goes beyond existing technologies and applications, stimulating the development of the necessary pre-conditions for collaborative innovation amongst the four hubs. STARTUP SCALEUP provides, for talented European entrepreneurs, “a new innovative environment including services that will help web entrepreneurs in their process of starting up their start-ups” . Theses services will include (1) scaling up business viability, (2) scaling up technical feasibility, (3) scaling up investor attraction, (4) scaling up the international market, (5) a pan-European Acceleration Program and (6) stimulating community discussion and idea development.

3. Development of a pan-European ecosystem with global impact. A pan-European acceleration program will be developed to facilitate the successful development of new businesses that are able to take full advantage of the app economy. It will help promising web startups to efficiently launch and scale up their operations across Europe. Communication links will be established with the remaining participants in the other projects funded by the ICT13-2014 and the Commission to coordinate activities and disseminate the Open Calls scheduled for the STARTUP-SCALEUP acceleration program. It will “contribute, together with other relevant initiatives of the Commission, to a positive impact across the continuum of actors for entrepreneurship”.

A number of key performance indicators (KPIs) have been captured to monitorise the STARTUP SCALEUP’s impact and enable effective management of the progress towards goals. These indicators and metrics provide a high level of feedback of the ecosystem impact and critical information about its future sustainability through its commercial exploitation. The information has also served to improve and validate the developed acceleration program, as well as the online platform, internal procedures and content. The main KPIs are:

Number of incubators/accelerators and HUBs participating during the acceleration program organized by the ecosystem: 4 (1st year), 4 (2nd year)
Number of applications submitted to the acceleration program: 175 (1st round), 364 (2nd round)
Number of countries involved regarding applications: 30 (1st round) , 47(2nd round)
Number of start-ups running in the acceleration program: 50 (1st round), 82 (2nd round)
Number of countries involved regarding startups: 17 (1st round) , 23(2nd round)
Number of business angels involved in the ecosystem: 26 (1st round), 36(2nd round)
Number of Venture Capital groups and Business Angels Networks involved in the ecosystem: 11 (1st round), 26(2nd round)
Number of mentors involved in the ecosystem: 57(1st round), 72(2nd round)

Website & more info

More info: http://www.startup-scaleup.eu.