If your team is dedicated to turning your startup into a high-growth company, Rockstart Program is a radical opportunity to push your vision forward. We’ve run more than ten acceleration programs since 2012, assembled an extensive mentor and partner networks, and developed a curriculum that provides validation opportunities and hands-on access to experts in a variety of fields.

Yes. Your investor(s) would probably like you to join a program because they know what kind of support you can get by participating. Seed investors often spend a lot of time to coach the companies they invest in to increase their survival rate but cannot organize a mentor network or provide the expertise an accelerator can. Rockstart Program will help you to bring your startup to the next level by teaching your team how to think through your business proposition, open doors that used to be closed, help you with funding, marketing, and PR, and make sure you lay the foundation for growth plus lots more. We tailor the program to meet the needs of the ten selected startups.

You need to have a team of at least two people to join the program. It is difficult enough to build and grow a business, so you should have a partner to be able to make it a success. During the selection period, we focus on team dynamics and it’s a critical component of the selection process. You and your teammates should have complementary skills and positive team dynamics to be able to make it work.

That said, we do realize it is sometimes difficult to find the right partner. If you are very convinced that your startup should be part of the program, we recommend you apply. We might be able to connect you to the right partner. A team should be in place before we invite you for selection days.

Startups accepted to Rockstart’s Emerging Tech Program receive €20,000 in cash, plus an in-kind investment consisting of office space and other facilities, expert workshops, international events, exclusive deals and intensive hands-on (mentor) support, all in exchange for 6 percent equity.

In order for startups to benefit the most from all program elements, we require founders to live and work in or around Den Bosch for the full duration of the six-month program. Our team can assist you in finding housing in Den Bosch.

We believe in the power of a great team. Since our program is extremely intense and requires full team dedication, it’s important that you have a strong team in place with a track record, motivation and potential. We’re also looking for innovation. It doesn’t mean that you have to come up with a totally original idea, but your execution of that idea has to be unique. We’re looking to change the world with the startups we work with.

In order for us to help you get the most out of the program, we’re primarily looking for startups that have developed at least an MVP (minimum viable product), have customers or users and some traction. If your idea is still on the back of a napkin at the moment, we suggest you apply for the next Startup Weekend and test it out. However, as long as you have a business vision by the time our applications open, we’d love to hear it.

Rockstart’s Emerging Tech program is based in Den Bosch.

No. We are open to startups from all over the world. If you are from outside of the EU, we will support you in applying for the Dutch startup visa. Rockstart is one of the few accredited facilitators who can propose startups to receive this visa.

If you have more questions, please contact us.