Pre-Accelerator Program
For HealthTech startups
Pre Accelerator Program
Let’s get you started
Imec.istart is known for giving tech founders the best chances to succeed. With a portfolio of over 300 companies, our support has proven to be instrumental in helping entrepreneurs bring their products to market and grow their startups internationally.
We understand that getting started is often easier said than done. That’s why our pre-accelerator program helps early-stage founders validate their most critical assumptions about their (potential) startup. The goal of the 11-week program is to help you position yourself within the broader landscape, guide you towards decisions that increase the probability of success, and prepare you for your next steps, whether that’s an imec.istart investment or not.
Content of the program
We’re using our battle-tested support structure, consisting of several in-person sessions, 1-on-1 deep-dives with our experts, an extensive content library with industry-specific resources, coaching, speeddating opportunities with our partners and regular 1-on-1 check-ins.
The pre-accelerator program runs for 11 weeks, and tackles:
GETTING THE TEAM ALIGNED
As cliché as it sounds,startup success is all about the team and its execution. That’s exactly why we’re putting this topic at the top of the agenda, as it’s crucial to set the foundation for a resilient, collaborative and high-performing team.
During the kick-off day, we’ll dive into some fundamentals about startup team dynamics, help you better understand why you’re embarking on this journey, and provide you with some insight, strategies and do’s & don’ts of co-founder relationships.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
Are you actually trying to solve a problem? One that’s actually worth solving?
With the help of our partner U-sentric, we’ll introduce you to user-centered design principles to give you the tools to deeply understand the problem your (potential) customers are facing. From turning your vision into the right assumptions and running effective stakeholder interviews, to constructing the right experiments and building a system to gather relevant feedback.
BUILDING THE SOLUTION
The process of conceptualizing, developing, and bringing your product to the market is no easy feat, so ask yourself this: how can you build the most rudimentary version of your product to test whether it actually solves (part of) the problem?
With the help of our partners dashdot and Comate, we'll dive into the world of early software/hardware product development and MVP-building. We’ll help you translate your value proposition into a product vision and understand what's ahead of you in terms of building the initial version(s) of your product.
UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET
Customers, users, influencers, competitors, intermediaries,.. There are plenty of stakeholders to consider across the entire value chain, all with their own incentives, problems and needs.
Throughout the program, our own in-house built Innovatrix board will serve as a dynamic framework to lay out all facets of your startup, and our team will challenge you to map out the different customer segments, their respective needs, current practices, barriers, to adoption, and much more.
THE BUSINESS MODEL / GOING TO MARKET
A business model is all about the balance between value creation, delivery, consumption and capture. Because in the end it’s pretty simple: no business model, no business.
We’ll shed light on different business model dynamics and its associated metrics. And with the help of our partners Deloitte and Ooho, you’ll learn the ins and outs of bringing your product to the market via an effective go-to-market strategy, while considering best practices around contracting and the regulatory frameworks.
FUNDRAISING FUNDAMENTALS
After laying the groundwork for your team, product, business model and go-to-market strategy, you’ll need the necessary resources to accelerate your journey. That’s why we’ll tackle some of the most important fundraising fundamentals.
With the help of our partner messagelab, you’ll learn how to craft a compelling story to convince the right stakeholders at the right time. Additionally, our team will provide insights into the different types of funding mechanisms, while touching on the legal intricacies of the fundraising process and the legal stuff that you can’t ignore.
GETTING THE TEAM ALIGNED
As cliché as it sounds,startup success is all about the team and its execution. That’s exactly why we’re putting this topic at the top of the agenda, as it’s crucial to set the foundation for a resilient, collaborative and high-performing team.
During the kick-off day, we’ll dive into some fundamentals about startup team dynamics, help you better understand why you’re embarking on this journey, and provide you with some insight, strategies and do’s & don’ts of co-founder relationships.
Who are we looking for?
We welcome (future) startup founders who:
-
Are working on a HealthTech product (hardware or software, or both)
-
May not have a working proof of concept yet, but can at least already show what they are trying to build. Be it through sketches, prototypes, clickable mock-ups,...
-
May not have a complementary co-founder yet, but are in the process of teaming up with one
- Are based in Belgium
Selection process & key program dates
The selection process for our pre-accelerator program goes like this, so please keep these dates in mind. The exact workshop dates are mentioned in our program brochure.
