About the accelerator
The StartSmart SEE Accelerator builds on the successful history of the MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Greece Startup Competition, assisting early-stage entrepreneurs in creating world-changing companies.
As a leading acceleration program in South-Eastern Europe, it continues MITEF Greece’s legacy, which has helped over 200 alumni teams and 700+ founders in the past seven years.
Out of these, more than 70 companies have achieved global expansion and rapid growth, securing over $200 million in funding from both local and international investors.
These companies operate in numerous countries across Europe, America, and Asia, employing several hundred individuals and generating a combined turnover exceeding $50 million.
Augmenta, an outstanding success story among our alumni, stands out for being acquired by CHN Industrial for an impressive $110 million.
The StartSmart Accelerator, committed to helping startups grow faster and more intelligent and to turning South Eastern Europe into a world-class technology hub, has different tracks to cater to a variety of sectors:
General
Transportation
Maritime
Agro & Food
Energy
Life Science
Security & Privacy
The acceleration program includes workshops focused on helping to improve their business skills, mentoring by a global pool of experts, and many networking and pitching opportunities.
The program is broken down into three phases:Phase 1
Applications
Phase 2
Phase 3
Don’t miss out on this transformative program!
Why Join the Accelerator
By joining the StartSmart Accelerator, startups have the opportunity to:
- refine their value proposition
- connect with a global network of experts, executives, entrepreneurs, and investors
- gain access to a global network of mentors, coaches, investors, and entrepreneurs
- receive global visibility and accreditation.
- increase their impact, and expand their geographical reach
Eligibility Criteria
To participate in the StartSmart Accelerator, startups must:
- Have a prototype of their product or service.
- Have a team of at least 2 and no more than 6 founders.
- Have raised no more than 1 million euros.
FAQ
“Have questions about the StartSmart Accelerator? Check out our FAQ section for answers to common questions about the program and how to apply.”
StartSmart SEE Accelerator is a business skill accelerating competition focusing on technology
startups. We expect applications for ventures in fields such as
● Biotechnology & medicine
● Computer & electronics hardware
● Internet & web
● Nanotechnology & materials
● Software
● Telecommunications
● Transportation
● Energy – Renewable Energy
● Maritime technologies
The competition judges are carefully selected individuals from Greece and abroad with relevant
experience and expertise, such as venture capitalists, angel investors, lawyers, entrepreneurs,
business executives, academics, and other successful and knowledgeable business leaders.
Three judges will review each application. They will be selected from the available pool so that
their expertise will be relevant to the application’s field of interest. Judges should provide
unbiased feedback on each application to choose the teams that will proceed to the 2nd round.
Judges will be looking at a range of criteria, including the strength of technology usage, proof of
concept (working prototype or service), level of innovation, knowledge of the market, market fit,
team’s background, know-how and abilities and company’s growth potentials in the global
market. Each judge’s score is weighted equally. The viability and likely success of the business
will lead to the final selection.
Launching a successful startup requires a variety of disciplines and skills. Therefore it is strongly
advised to have a sufficiently diversified team with members covering multiple backgrounds.
Having team members or Advisory Board members with business backgrounds (marketing,
economics, sales, etc.) will significantly improve your effort and application.
Each semifinalist (2nd round) will be assigned to 3 business or academic community mentors to
improve the team’s performance before the final round of judging. Through their mentoring,
semifinalists will refine all aspects of their venture, focusing primarily on the areas of their
business that need more attention to excel. Selected mentors have various disciplines, including
finance, legal, business operations, communication, marketing, etc.
The semifinalists will have the opportunity to participate in various online workshops that will
help them develop and refine all aspects of their venture. The workshops will be focusing on
business skills and issues such as legal, finance, tax matters, pitching, human resources,
communication, and marketing. At least one team member must participate in each workshop.
Please read the Rules & Terms of Participation thoroughly before entering the competition.
When you submit your entry to the Accelerator, the judges and mentors who review your
materials do not sign non-disclosure agreements. Therefore, you should assume that any
information submitted to the competition is not protected and plan accordingly. This is the same
situation as when giving an initial pitch to a VC. VCs rarely sign NDA’s for the initial pitch.
Therefore, you need to craft your materials to present what you can without revealing any
information compromising your IP protection strategy. The judges and mentors are experienced
lawyers, entrepreneurs, and VCs who understand the confidential nature of the information
presented to them
All applicants will receive feedback from the judges electronically through the competition
platform. Semifinalists will be notified directly and announced online through the competition
platform and StartSmart SEE website.
Eligible teams may visit our website regularly for all updates about the competition or join our
newsletter list. For any additional inquiries regarding the competition, please contact us at
stzamourani@mitefgreece.org or visit our website.
