Amorim Cork Ventures is launching an international acceleration program to be based in Barcelona.
This first international project, named Cork Challenge Barcelona, is built around an 8 week acceleration program. Applications opened on July 11th, and last until August 31st. The selection phase will then take place, until September 28th, with the 2 months acceleration stage taking place from October to December 2016.
Nuno Barroca, Vice-President of Corticeira Amorim, believes that this international expansion reflects the evolution and consolidation of the company, whose track record shows very positive indicators, like the more than 200 applications they already received.
We are an international company, so this development is fully anticipated, and perfectly in line with our business profile.
The Cork Challenge Barcelona will select a maximum of 14 startups. The chosen teams will have 8 weeks of individual coaching and pitch practice sessions. They will also be exposed to numerous workshops & mentoring sessions, key to the development of the business model and product ‘market-fit’.
The program also includes access to Amorim Cork Ventures consultants, that, together with the Beta-i network (partner of the program), means access to a platform of more than 200 mentors and over 500 startups, as well as top events.
In line with the motto behind the creation of Amorim Cork Ventures – the first incubator and venture capital dedicated exclusively to the cork business – this is another important milestone for the long-term sustainability of the cork industry. By building bridges between the world of startups and the world leader in cork products, this project will be a big contributor to the economic success and innovation potential of the industry.
Amorim Cork Ventures was founded to foster the creation of new cork products and businesses, mainly oriented at external markets. Although recent, this incubator already supported around 20 projects (four of which resulted in start-ups), which are at different stages of development, and exploring different areas of activity.
The Amorim Group is one of the largest, most entrepreneurial and dynamic multinationals of Portuguese origin. Its origins were in the cork business, back in 1870 and today it is the world leader in the sector.