On Friday, Crowdcube announced its partner Central Research Laboratory (CRL) has opened applications for its accelerator program, which is partly funded by the European Regional Fund (ERDF) and supports the “next generation” of product-focused entrepreneurs.
According to Crowdcube, candidates who were previously selected for the program represent some of the most exciting and diverse product-focused entrepreneurs in the UK and came from many sectors including ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) and wearable technology to educational toys to robotics. As part of their involvement in the programme, candidates will receive a start-up access to the specialist prototyping workshops, support from in-house experts, dedicated sessions with a large range of industry experts and support to raise seed funding.
While sharing more details about the program, Mandy Nyarko, Accelerator Program Lead at CRL, stated:
“We are proud to be focused on supporting the aspirations of product-focused entrepreneurs who are eager to scale their designs into credible businesses. The CRL prides itself on being at the heart of innovation and we are looking forward to helping grow and develop some of the most exciting new hardware-focused companies in the UK.”
She then added:
“We are thrilled to have produced some real success stories and to have been a valuable part of the journey for the people that we have worked with. Many entrepreneurs have great ideas, but can find it difficult to gain knowledge, experience and contacts in product, marketing and business development. The Accelerator programme helps bridge that gap and fast forward their business.”
The program launch will coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week