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Build your company with
imec.istart in The Netherlands
In collaboration with our partner Novel-T
What we do
Let's accelerate your business!
The world’s #1 business accelerator and the most entrepreneurial university of the Netherlands have joined forces. Imec.istart in The Netherlands offers tech startups pre-seed funding (between 100.000 and up to 250.000 euro per startup,) and tailored support to succeed and grow globally.
We support and partner with the most ambitious pre-seed startups – often as their first investor. Imec.istart launched in 2021 in the Netherlands, but the program can count on many years of experience of both the imec.istart acceleration program in Belgium, and the business support of university incubator Novel-T.
Who are we looking for?
imec.istart The Netherlands welcomes startups who have a
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Tech product (this can be software or hardware, deeptech or shallowtech)
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Working proof of concept
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Complementary founding team
How it works
When joining the imec.istart accelerator program in The Netherlands, you can expect the following:
Access to COACHING
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Personal coaching by your contact person and sparring partner on a day-to-day basis;
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A broad range of workshops and one-on-one follow-up tracks, conducted by top notch external experts;
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Our in-house developed Innovatrix, the tool to monitor your progress;
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A diverse network of 100+ experienced mentors.
Access to FINANCE
- € 100,000 pre-seed funding (devided in €50,000 for 6% equity and €50,000 as a convertible loan), and you can apply for up to € 250,000 in extra investment;
- A “funding need” assessment and financial scenario built to target and address the right investor type;
- Present your solution and financial needs to our broad investor ecosystem, comprising over 100+ different investors and financiers in the Netherlands and abroad;
- A financial roadmap for the next five years – with the right investments in mind – and become ‘investor ready’.
Access to TECHNOLOGY
- Access to world-leading research and innovation institutes and hubs, for state of the art technology in the field of nanoelectronics, nano and bioscience, robotics, and digital technologies;
- Easier access to the expertise and technology portfolio of over 5,000 bright minds from over 90 nationalities and numerous research partnerships with local and global players;
- The opportunity to pitch your solution to a panel of judges of imec experts who will advise you on the most relevant technology, services, and knowledge.
Access to COMMUNITY
- Establish long-term relationships and partnerships;
- Around 300 startups providing you with the chance to share best practices, experiences, and the know-how to tackle specific problems;
- Become part of our alumni network and continue to participate in specific programs and events;
- A number of innovation services at a reduced price provided by our international partner network;
- Support to expand internationally in a more advanced stage of your imec.istart.nl trajectory.
Access to TALENT
- Support to find the right talents (both junior and senior) for internships, Expert-in-Residence roles, and vacancies;
- Access to the Global Accelerator Network (GAN,) which is a network of independent start-up studios and accelerators around the world;
- Support on the human aspects of entrepreneurship: create, strengthen and reinforce successful team dynamics, like shared leadership (vision, norms, cooperated goals), constructive conflict, and psychological safety.
Access to REVENUE
- Follow all the necessary steps to realize a successful product launch within different markets or regions, together with the imec.istart.nl coaches. Including product-market fit-gap analysis, market landscape analysis, barriers to market entry, etc.;
- An international network – allowing you to connect with international partners and investors, attend the most interesting events, do business in specific target markets and attract your first international clients, and set up a remote office;
- Soft-landing programs to gain relevant market insights and information and international deep-dive missions towards specific markets to enable market entry.
Access to COACHING
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Personal coaching by your contact person and sparring partner on a day-to-day basis;
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A broad range of workshops and one-on-one follow-up tracks, conducted by top notch external experts;
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Our in-house developed Innovatrix, the tool to monitor your progress;
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A diverse network of 100+ experienced mentors.
Our selection process
Once you've submitted your application, the selection process goes like this. For our Spring 2025 call, these will be the important dates to note in your agenda.
Luuk Wiehink
Founder & Director of EARN-E
We'll let our alumni do the talking
Ahmed Khalil en Lirry Pinter are the driving force behind Asenscia, a startup focussed on making lab-notes a breeze. Ascenscia has gone succesfully trough the imec.istart.nl accelerator program and are part of our growing alumni community. They share their experience with the program in this video.
You'll be in good company
Some notable startups that have followed our acceleration program in The Netherlands
When can you join our program?
For the program in The Netherlands we launch 2 competitive calls with deadlines on the following dates:
