Found.ation Spark: The 2020 edition of the program has been completed

Having identified the missing link between early stage startups and their funding, Found.ation launched a new accelerator named Found.ation Spark. This is a program that runs on an annual basis, from September to November, bridging the gap between the stage that startups are when graduating from established incubation programs in Greece and the steps they need to take in order to seek funding from existing institutions.

The Found.ation Spark accelerator is aiming to boost the development of startup products and services, while creating networking and collaboration opportunities for the participating companies. This year’s first edition of the program, which was implemented with the support of Kathimerini, Oracle for Startups and PwC Greece, included teams that had successfully completed EIT Digital Venture Program 2020, a pan-European program for early startups, also organized by Found.ation in partnership with EIT Digital.

The Found.ation Spark 2020 program started on September 14th and ended on November 6th, while it was carried entirely online. The teams that consisted, at no cost, this year’s cohort were the following:

– Arkris, from Romania, creator of an AI assistant to facilitate and automate HR processes for large companies.

– Loopcv, a Greek company that innovates in the field of job search, evolving a service for targeted and automated job applications.

– OMNIO from Bulgaria, a company that is developing a financial transaction control system to combat illegal activities.

– Oliveex, a Greek company which has already created and optimized an IoT system for the remote measurement and monitoring of conditions of production and storage conditions of food products in biotechnology and industrial units.

The teams worked with their dedicated coach and had the opportunities to contact mentors from Found.ation’s ecosystem and other industry experts. Also, they attended targeted seminars and workshops and had the chance to present their products and progress to potential investors (angels and VCs). At the same time, they had been mentored from the Found.ation team with ad-hoc support in marketing, sales, business and technological development.

The first edition of the program concluded with an online discussion, in which the selected teams presented their final pitches, framed by the advice from the program contributors and an interesting discussion with other startup founders.