We’re still eagerly awaiting imec.istart’s official announcement, but rumour has it the startup community is in for a treat! Out of the 44 startups who signed up for the first imec.istart call of 2017 and were invited to pitch their stuff, 16 made it through round one and 7 made to the final round. Want to increase your startup’s chances of joining the coveted imec.istart acceleration programme? Jury members Thomas Deschepper and Sven De Cleyn elaborate on how the final selection was made.
Getting ten jury members to decide unanimously is no easy feat. “Needless to say, we don’t always agree. When it’s only a few of us who aren’t onboard, we like to give the startup in question the benefit of the doubt, provided they agree to our conditions, e.g. allowing us to select an additional team member for them”, Thomas explains. “When in doubt,” Sven adds, “I also observe how open the startup is to our input and feedback. To me, that’s a great indicator of what the collaboration between imec.istart and the startup is going to be like should we decide to accept them.”
The jury is also eager to learn why startups signed up for imec.istart in particular. Thomas: “Love is a two-way street, I always say, so startups should really be able to explain why they feel imec.istart to be a perfect fit for them. At one point, someone said they signed up for imec.istart to have a back-up plan . Needless to say, that didn’t bode well for them.”
Want a chance at securing a spot in the imec.istart programme? Registration for the second call starts on May 1, 2017.