European Tech Accelerator Launches with £1m Fund

The team behind the North East's successful incubator, Difference Engine are back with a new accelerator fund, ignite100, backed with funds of £1m.

Jon Bradford, founder of Difference Engine, which includes Digital Mission alumni Screenreach amongst the companies is supported, returns as Executive Director with Paul Smith, a North-East based entrepreneur running the programme. He said,

"Difference Engine was the first major acceleration bootcamp programme in Europe. ignite100 redefines acceleration programmes again and will be first acceleration programme in Europe to offer up to £100k per team."

The deal?

Companies have until 17th July to apply for entry, which includes subsistence funding of £5,000 per founder up to a maximum of £15,000. In return for the initial funding, startups will part with 8% of founder shares.

The balance of the £100k will be available for teams 'meeting pre-agreed criteria', which will be relased in the form of a convertible loan with a discount of 20% against the next funding round, but teams are not obligated to accept this loan note.

The teams will spend 13 weeks based in the North East, "With a mix of investment capital, intensive business development support from experienced mentors and external advice from key partners such as Google, Microsoft, Paypal and Amazon Web Services".

Alongside the excellent Thinking Digital conference and the work of regional agencies like Codeworks, initiatives like this will be crucial in supporting the local digital economy, especially in the light of impending government cuts.

To persuade startup founders to head to the region ignite100 have included links on the start-up scene in Newcastle and why it's a great city to live in. 

// ignite100
// ignite100 application form

Applications close: Sunday 17th July at 23.59 PST. The programme starts in September. 

Photo (cc) Ben Seidelman.