There are accelerators and incubators popping up all over the region, like :agile Nordic, SoPact, Think Accelerate, Minc Game, Fast Track Malmö and Go Grow at CSE. If you are a startup you are able to find the incubator or accelerator that fit your specific needs. Now IKEA is catching up and invites entrepreneurs all over the world to find new solutions to the challenges in people’s everyday life.

Ten startups will be part of the first IKEA startup program: IKEA Bootcamp, which starts September 18. The program will accelerate the young companies by connecting Rainmaking’s understanding of startup mentorship with IKEA’s values and strategic vision.

The focus of the program is to collaborate with startups on solving three big challenges identified by IKEA:

  1. Being truly affordable
  2. Being accessible
  3. Enabling a positive impact on the planet and society

We believe that the IKEA scale and impact merged with our network and experience from building startups and innovation programs will provide a great environment for the startups. The program will help them speed up their development and create innovative products and services that truly have a positive effect on people’s lives”, says Alex Farcet, Partner at Rainmaking.

The ten selected startups will sit in a new co-working space at IKEA Range & Supply Democratic Design center, working together with IKEA and Rainmaking. They will get access to the prototype shop, test labs and the expertise and knowledge, such as innovation engineers, innovation & creative leaders and value chain experts. Each startup will also get a senior global IKEA business leader as a lead mentor as well as access to tailored mentorship and advice from Rainmaking’s global network of serial entrepreneurs and experts. The selected startups will receive a grant of € 20,000 to develop their product and startup, as well as free housing in Sweden for the three month duration of the program.

The duration of the program is 18th of September to 8th of December 2017. Throughout the process, IKEA want to  look for possibilities to co-create with the startups. After the program they may end up being a customer, licensing their technology or even investing in their company, but they will not take equity in the startups for participating.

Is this program a good match for you? Read more.