StartupYard, the longest running tech startups accelerator in CEE, announced its 11th acceleration round. Startups can submit their applications until September 30. The new round will again focus on high-tech area. Startups will have another chance to succeed in a truly global competition. A group of up to 10 startups will receive an initial investment of 40,000 EUR each and intensive training from top industry mentors. So far StartupYard accelerated 72 companies from 16 countries. In total, its startups raised more than €30m.
StartupYard, Prague-based seed accelerator with the longest track record in the CEE, announced the opening of its new acceleration round. It will focus mainly on startups from the high-tech industry, working in Artificial Intelligence, CyberSecurity, Cryptography, Augmented and Virtual Reality, IoT and Robotics.
Startups from the whole world can submit their applications until the end of September 2019. The 11th acceleration round will then start on November 18 th 2019 and will run for three months. In February 2020 it will be followed by an international industry conference DemoDay, where startups have the opportunity to meet potential investors and corporate partners.
The aim is to select up to 10 top startups from the submitted applications. Selected founders into the program will receive an initial investment of 40,000 EUR each as well as intensive training from 157 top industry mentors, who come from various business areas (incl. finance, management consultancy, strategic management, HR, marketing, etc.).
“Prague is becoming more and more attractive for tech startups. Founders from across the globe are attracted by a unique ecosystem we managed to create in the last 9 years – connecting startups, investors and corporations. We are facing a growing interest from international startups in our program, while it is encouraging to see that our alumni succeed in a strong global competition,” said Cedric Maloux, director of StartupYard.
The previous 10th round was truly global and confirmed the growing interest from startups and investors. 154 startups from across the world applied, while 7 startups from 7 countries and 3 continents were selected to join the acceleration in Prague and gained the opportunity to present their strategies to 320 investors and industry experts in a successful Demo Day conference.
“Our role as a seed accelerator is to invest in people and ideas whose time is yet to come,” said Cedric Maloux, who marks his 6th year as head of the accelerator. “Our role is not only to identify startups with high potential, their development, and connection with investors, we also aim to build long-term relationships between corporations and startups. Connection of those two worlds bring mutual advantages. Corporations bring experience and capital, while startups can offer fresh thinking and speed”.
2019 is so far already another successful year for startups from StartupYard´s program, marking several significant investments and acquisitions. Rockaway Capital invested in Gjirafa (e-commerce platform and the fastest growing technology company in the Balkan region), as well as in BudgetBakers (fast growing personal finance application with a global reach). Steel Mountain (cyber security company from the UK) was acquired by Avast and Czech startup Brand Embassy, offering customer support on social media, was acquired by the Israeli public company NICE. StartupYard also started this year with two significant awards: Czech AI startup Rossum was voted “Startup of the Year” at the Czech AI Awards and WaymarkTech, UK-based company offering AI for regulatory compliance, was named one of the “Most influential FinTechs 2019” by a judging panel of experts in London.
About StartupYard
Established in 2011, StartupYard it is the oldest private accelerator in the CEE region. So far StartupYard has invested in an accelerated 10 cohorts of 72 startups. Its aim is to help startups grow and gain further investment while connecting them with partners and mentors to help them launch on the global stage. 2 In total, its startups raised more than €30m. 7 companies have been acquired. StartupYard is backed by Credo Ventures, Rockaway Capital, and a group of angel investors including Michal Illich, Josef Matejka, Michal Kratochvil, and Philip Staehelin.