A great institutional support for startups: SeedUP Program

SeedUP is an accelerator program for innovative entrepreneurs whose ideas have commercialization potential. It is governed by multiple government institutions and universities in Turkey like Anadolu University Technology Transfer Office (Arinkom TTO), Anaç Pre-seed Incubation Center, Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik Development Agency, Eskişehir Osmangazi University Technology Transfer Office Application and Research Center, and Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University Technology Transfer Office.

SeedUP Program is custom-designed for startups emerging from Eskişehir and Bilecik specifically with an aim to develop the local region. Also, one major goal of the program is to increase the number of innovative entrepreneurship and to provide necessary mentorship not only for the company foundation but also to maintain the company for new entrepreneurs. Throughout the program, entrepreneurs are trained by academic and industry professionals via mentorship and consultancy services.

The application process is pretty straightforward through an online application form which becomes active in February every year. After the first screening, applicable startups are invited to a 5-minute pitch to a jury consisting of members from the prementioned institutions. Almost half of the applicants are elected in this stage and for the applicable ones, the mentorship process starts.

From February till July, vertical and horizontal mentorship sessions on various topics that matter the most for startups are held. Some of the most important topics covered during the program are; Business Model Canvas, Unique Value Proposition, market analysis and pricing, financial planning and budgeting, law, and intellectual and industrial property rights. Industry professionals as well as the technology transfer office professionals help you clarify your business plan in every way and help you become ready for an investor pitch. At the end of the program, a demo day where you can pitch your innovative business model to a mixed group of angel networks is arranged. Finally, official investor meetings start with the potential of getting funded.

Right now at Archi’s Academy, we have completed our mentorship sessions and putting the finishing touches on our pitch deck and financials for an investor meeting. With a working business idea and a life-changing platform with active users, we are ready to go for the next step!