Big news for startups: The European Commission (EC) launched an open call for startups to receive support from experienced mentors in the Copernicus Accelerator programme. The Copernicus Accelerator fosters the development of commercial space solutions and products.
The EC encourages the highest level of diversity in terms of the user uptake of the European Union’s Earth observation programme Copernicus with this Open Call. The goal of the Copernicus Accelerator is to provide tailored business development support to startups, SMEs, research institutes and universities who have innovative ideas using Earth observation (EO) data, specifically Copernicus data.
Startups can submit their applications directly at accelerator.copernicus.eu until 15 September 2018 23:59 CEST.
The new Open Call particularly targets startups younger than three years and entrepreneurs planning to be incorporated within one year, to gain direct access to the programme. This is a new entry point for the Copernicus Accelerator which enables access to about half of the fifty mentees. The remaining spots of the programme will be allocated to the winners of the Copernicus Masters and Copernicus Hackathons.
The easy Open Call submission process provides for the upload of a pitch deck, a video of maximum two minutes as well as a recommendation letter by a company or organisation or any entity with experience or an interest in EO.
Participating startups will be able to determine the focus of the coaching during the programme, such as creating a business plan, acquiring their first customers, raising capital, etc. Scheduled to last ten months, the Copernicus Accelerator will kick off with a boot camp that will invite all of its participants to Marseille, France, on 3 and 4 December 2018 as part of the EU Space Week 2018.
Use your chance to join the Copernicus Accelerator programme to take your business case to the next level!
