European accelerator programme launched to combat COVID-19

Tech Open Air (TOA), Europe’s largest technology festival, has joined the non-profit “Healthy Together” (GesundZusammen) initiative, which was formed by insuretech unicorn wefox Group, via, (part of the Global Citizens Foundation), and finleap, Europe’s leading fintech company builder to launch an accelerator programme to combat covid19.

At least five organisations will have the opportunity to receive €20.000 each without giving up any of their shares.

The accelerator also offers a mentoring program and access to commercial partners to bring their ideas to market. Applications are open to start-ups as well as researchers and inventors who may not yet be founded or registered as legal entities.

Applications are accepted immediately and are open until the end of the week (April 10).

The goal of the Healthy Together initiative is to support projects that want to use digital solutions to tackle Covid-19 and flatten the curve.

The initiative is also backed by the likes of N26, the Federal Association of German Startups, Delivery Hero, Omio, Heartbeat Labs, BCG Digital Ventures, GetYourGuide, FreightHub and many more have been partners from the very beginning.

Nikolas Woischnik, founder of TOA, said: “The speed at which the idea for the Gesund-Zusammen accelerator was born and implemented is encouraging.”

“As a physical platform for the European and international tech scene, we are of course directly affected by the current situation, but it was also clear to us that this is a chance to activate our community for other, more urgent formats,” he added.

Dr. Florian Resatsch, chief build officer at finleap, said: “We are very pleased to have found a strong partner for the accelerator in TOA. Following the launch of the Gesund-Zusammen initiative a week ago, we have received hundreds of emails from companies that want to make a contribution or are already working on promising projects. The accelerator was created to bundle this flood of ideas and to push the best of these forward as quickly as possible.”

Julian Teicke, CEO of wefox Group, said: “The Accelerator is already ready to launch its first tech solution to combat Covid-19, which we will announce next week. This will be a huge step forward that will enable people to track the virus while ensuring that their data is completely private.”

The network of partners should grow continuously and, if necessary, the capital invested also needs to adapt to the current situation to guarantee as many projects as possible.

Key information at a glance:

• €20.000 capital (no equity)
• Free resources (products & services) from our partners
• Six weeks of acceleration program for the development of your products, building partnerships, user acquisition & further financing
• Access to mentors and experts from the partner network
• Anyone (companies, researchers, inventors) of any size can apply
• The application deadline is April 13, 2020
• Batch #1 of the accelerator program will finance 6-10 innovative, digital projects
• Applications are quickly evaluated by a top-class jury
• Projects will also be adopted on an ongoing basis afterwards
• The network of partners will grow constantly
• Batch #1 ends with a virtual demo day on May 25, 2020