Boom! Yle, the Finnish broadcasting company with over 100 years of experience and a reach of 5.5 million people is teaming up with us, Catapult and Helsinki Ventures to launch an accelerator program at the end of April. Apply now! The application period ends on the 8th of April and the companies will be chosen by the 17th of April.
We believe that media is one of the most exciting landscapes to be in. The way we consume media is changing and there is an increased demand for personalization and new technologies are found nearly daily. This industry will evolve drastically in the coming years and we want to help you to spearhead that change.
Have you thought of ways of revolutionizing the media landing page? Perhaps you dreamt of new ways of utilizing analytics, content discovery, personalisation, big data? Maybe you even thought of completely new media formats? Or, something else that we can not even think of that might change the very definition of ‘media’.
Some of these can be built as new online services or be a part of solutions that can be integrated. We are also open to some high-value consulting or building on top of existing data and content, given that suitable API is available. For that, YLE is starting to open up as well as our partners such as Helen.
If you find this space interesting, then this accelerator is for you. The accelerator will take only 10 companies, so act fast because what you get will be priceless and you won’t have to give out any equity for it:
– Help with getting your first or follow-up round of funding.
– Mentors that will actually care and push you to the limits.
– Access to 100 years of content by Yle. Just think of the amount of data you get to play with.
– Potential pilot opportunity reaching 5.5 million people.
– Access to the ArcticStartup network of investors, advisors, friends.
– Media push through ArcticStartup and video blogs of the accelerator program.
– Access to mentors who have been in media for decades, thanks to Yle.
– Opportunities to convince world class investors and secure funding during the Arctic15 demo day.
– Direct access into the semi-finals of the Arctic15 Pitching competition, for two startup. One chosen by judges and the other by the startups themselves.
– The best startups will win access to the Catapult network and get concrete help with sales, negotiations, contacts and fund raising: worth EUR 75 000.
This will not be a walk in the park. We will push you. We will make sure you do not get enough sleep. We will pump content and knowledge your way all the time. But most importantly – goals, hard milestones and actions that will drive real customers and money.
You will work on weekends, you will get paying customers, you will understand the startup game, you will learn how to get things done.
The program itself will be run by Helsinki Ventures, Catapult (A rapid reward accelerator) and ArcticStartup. On our part, we will focus heavily on the media angle and we will tell you all about our work, and let you try things out on ArcticStartup too.
Yle Media Accelerator is a developing concept which first batch was run by Nestholma. The first batch completed at the end of 2014 and the feedback has been very positive. You can check more information about the first edition here.
The application period for our accelerator will end on the 8th of April. So act fast and apply here. If you are not sure if your startup or an idea fits the “media” concept, feel free to apply and we will reach out to you.
One partner that is helping us make it all happen is Helen, the Finnish Energy company. They power 400 000 customers nationwide and warms up 90 % of buildings in Helsinki with city energy that has been rewarded as the best in the world. They, like Yle, are a public player, who are very interested in reaching out to Startups, so will be supporting the accelerator program through mentoring and being present for the duration of the program. So if your idea manages to include both media and energy angles – you will have an ideal opportunity.
We expect a lot of application in the next few weeks, so act very fast and apply here. Here is the preliminary schedule for the program:
8th of April – The end of the application period.
9th – 10th of April – Shortlisting of companies to be interviewed.
13th – 17th of April – Skype interviews with shortlisted companies.
17th of April – The participants are chosen.
24th – 26th of April: Lean Startup Approach by Aleksi Rossi & Dmitri Sarle.
27th of April – Start of the Accelerator Program.
27th of May – Demo Day at Arctic15.
