A year into its new role as an accelerator, Think in Helsingborg establishes partnerships with 5 important venture capital firms, writes Rapidus. Among the new partners are EQT Ventures, Creandum, Northzone, Holtzbrinck Ventures and Spintop Ventures. The plan is to grow and internationalize this network in the future, similarly to the mentor network at Think.
The new partnerships are driven by interest on the side of investors. Think management noticed that there is a demand among venture capital firms to get a closer contact with new ventures in earlier stages. For example, VC Northzone, which focuses on relatively early investments in technology companies, sees Think’s digital focus and international ambitions very appealing.
“Think’s ambition and a focus on international expansion stands out in comparison to other Swedish incubators and accelerators,” – says Tim He, investors in the North Zone.
Well-structured 12-week Accelerator program and collaboration with companies like IBM, Amazon and Microsoft are also seen as very important by investors. And of course, entrepreneurs are also interested in getting in closer contact with potential investors.
Venture capital firms like Northzone are interested in investments from and above 1 million euro (over 9 million SEK). This means that a company that can receive such an investment should have reached a certain level of maturity, have a product and some customers. According to Tim He, there is a handful of interesting companies at Think, and perhaps within one-two years there could be first investment.
Think Spring program 2016
Meanwhile, Think Accelerate still has an open application for a spring batch 2016. Application deadline is February 12th. Spring program will run from March 1st to June 3rd.
“We give you an international network of mentors, expert-led workshops, personalized business coaching, introductions to top investors, and $275,000 in credit to use across Amazon, Microsoft and IBM products. The program is completely free and you keep 100% of the equity in your company.”
