We’re on the hunt for the next big innovation in tech: Could your startup be a fit for Founders Factory?
Founders Factory is now accepting applications for all six of our sectors — EdTech, Media, Travel, FinTech, Beauty and AI.
How do I apply?
Please fill out our application form and upload your pitch deck HERE. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
What is the program about?
We’ve established a whole new model for business acceleration, focused on day-to-day support from a dedicated 50+ operations team rather than relying on intermittent mentors, and providing unprecedented support from our corporate investors — Holtzbrinck, easyJet, Guardian Media Group, L’Oreal, CSC Group and Aviva.
In May we will be selecting our next cohort (2–3 companies per sector). If you know any great entrepreneurs please spread the word and encourage them to apply now.
What areas are we interested in?
· EdTech: Digital Science & Research, Medical Education, Personal Learning, AR & VR, Learning Games
· Media: Media, Content, Video, AdTech, New Commercial Models and VR
· FinTech: InsurTech, IoT, AI & Big Data, Blockchain, CyberInsurance
· Beauty: AI, Data, E-commerce, Subscription, Video, AR, Personalisation, On-Demand, Made-to-Order
· Travel:E-Commerce, Payments, Duty Free, Ancillary Revenue, Travel Inspiration, Airport & Inflight
· AI: Predictive Analytics, Computer Vision, Natural Language, Dialogue Systems, Knowledge-based Assistance, General Intelligence, with alignment to our other verticals
What do we provide to the startups?
1. Focused partnerships across six sectors
Founders Factory is backed by six world class companies — L’Oréal (Beauty), Aviva (Fintech), easyJet (Travel), CSC (AI & Big Data), Guardian Media Group (Media), Holtzbrinck (Edtech). Working closely with one or several of our corporate investors allows you to pilot, test and scale your business rapidly.
2. Operational support
We don’t believe in light-touch mentorship; we prefer to get our hands dirty. Our hands-on approach means you have a full-time operations team of 60 digital experts across Product, Engineering, Design, Data Science, Growth, Branding, PR & Marketing, Business Development and Fundraising to help you reach your goals. Check out our team page to discover the calibre of talent you can expect to work with.
3. A six month program designed for you
We believe in quality over quantity. Our ratio of operations team to accelerator companies means that we only have 2–3 companies per sector and are able to offer a bespoke program tailored to the ambitions of each individual startup. We ask, listen, stress-test, advise and push you during your time here.
4. Smart fundraising
We have a world class fundraising team who help identify how much to raise, who from and how to best achieve your fundraising goals. We do this using experience and expertise from those who have raised tens of millions in investment capital, but also connect you to a group of friendly investors drawn from our well-connected network.
5. Network access
We will open up our broader Founders network to identify the experts who can help and advise you in the specific areas that add the most value to your business.
6. A fair deal
Our corporate investors have invested directly in us in order for us to employ a full-time operations team give tailored help to the startups based on their business objectives. We are very selective as to which startups make the cut for our programme but this also means that the service we offer those companies is much more valuable.
We offer £30,000 cash, but if you want to join the accelerator just for the cash, then you are probably not right for us. Our services have been valued at £220,000, although based on the feedback of our alumni founders, we think it is much worth more than that. But we are happy with using £250,000 as an heuristic. For that £250,000 we require 7% on a fully diluted basis.
What are we looking for?
· Early stage startups with a full-time founding team, product to launch and who’ve established some early traction.
· Our focus sectors are Media, Beauty, Edtech, Travel, Fintech and AI.
· Ambitious, technical founders with deep experience for solving the challenges their startups are confronting.
What companies have we worked with to date?
Click HERE to view all the companies that we have worked with to date
