If you’re running a start-up and haven’t heard of Seedcamp before, you’d better take a minute now to read this article. Seedcamp is a much-applauded week-long program for young entrepreneurs from the Middle East, Africa, and…, Europe. That means you can participate as well. From September 15 through 19, London calls you.
So why should you go? At the end of the week – filled with workshops and presentations-, Seedcamp will invest up to 50K Pounds for a 10 percent stake in each of final five teams and provide ongoing mentorship and support for three months in preparation for the companies’ formal rounds of financing. Last year’s winners included Zemanta, an excellent blog service we use at The Next Web as well.
CEO and co-founder of Seedcamp is Reshma Sohoni, who used to be a banker at 3i. Her business partner is Saul Klein from Index Ventures. They raised capital from a number of informal investors last year.
As the editor in chief of The Next Women, I’m glad to see that the advisory board has many female internet heroes: Sherry Coutu, an early stage investor, Sara Murray, founder of Buddi.co.uk, Bindi Karia of who runs the UK Startup Accelerator Programme of Microsoft and Lori Vokes, Operation Director of Cisco.
If you feel you’re a bright young mind with a game changing start-up, you have the change to be one of the twenty start-ups to participate in the program. That is, if you make it through the application procedure. Not ready yet to go all the way to Seedcamp? Then try the Seedcamp event brite taster events. Here you may find the right team mates that get you going!
Hi,
Andraz Tori from Zemanta here.
I have to say that going through Seedcamp last year was really amazing experience. You learn so much, and because stakes are so high, you also become so much more productive.
I’d recommend to every entrepreneur to have a go and try to get through. Even getting in final 20 gets you a week of experience that you can’t put a price on.
But the important thing is to keep trying to get through all the time. You might make it through Seedcamp, but if not, you learn something and try somewhere else. It’s a win-win situation.
Andraz Tori, Zemanta
Hi – Michael from Seedcamp.
Just wanted to point out that Seedcamp Week runs through the 19th, not the 18th, and the investment is *up to* €50k, for a small minority stake.
Thanks for spreading the word!