One of the major trends in entrepreneurship nowadays is the increasing number of vertical accelerators. According to GAN, approximately 25% of accelerators have now a vertical focus.
Acceleration programs focused on particular sectors have shown very good results. On one hand they bring specialized support to startups, since mentors are industry experts that understand better the market and have a strong network in that field. On the other hand companies within the industry have a chance to get closer to startups, hoping to connect earlier with disruptive ideas that may change their markets.
Along with big global companies that already embraced this trend, like Microsoft, Orange and Google, we see now the emergence of a vertical accelerator in Portugal: Deloitte Digital Disruptors.
Deloitte Digital Disruptors is the first vertical acceleration program by Deloitte Digital Portugal held by Beta-i, and it is focused on digital solutions to disrupt the insurance industry in the EMEA region.
The program was designed to help startups implementing their solutions directly with big insurance industry players. There are over €100k in perks per team, free office space during the acceleration program and incubation right in Lisbon’s business center with no equity taken.
According to Pedro Rocha Vieira, President of Beta-i,
What makes Deloitte Digital Disruptors stand out in the world of vertical accelerators is that the resources, talent and knowledge provided along with the international access to the insurance market, is only made possible because of Deloitte’s track record.
André Fonseca Ferreira, Head of C4D at Deloitte states that
the entire program is designed to get startups in front of clients and the final pitch is yet another great opportunity for this as they will be presenting the solution the startup has been working on during 2 months of acceleration, to Deloitte’s clients and Deloitte’s partners.
Application process
In order to apply each startup has to go through 3 phases: on the first one 25 startups will be selected to attend a bootcamp; then only 15 will move onto the acceleration stage; in the end only 5 will be chosen to incubate.
The final 5 startups will have the opportunity of integrating Deloitte Digital for 6 months with access to support services in order to fine-tune the final product. There is further design and programming support plus technical assessment for production and go-to-market resources and backing.
You can apply until 16th of September, so don’t miss the opportunity!