The Westerwelle Young Founders Programme is now admitting a new cohort of inspiring Young Founders to join in Spring 2021. This opportunity is open to young founders and entrepreneurs from emerging and developing countries to develop their skills and network.
If you are a founder willing to develop your business, apply now.
About Westerwelle Young Founders Programme
The Westerwelle Young Founders Programme is a fully funded 6-month-long programme for outstanding young entrepreneurs from emerging and developing countries. It aims to connect young founders from all over the world and offer a mentoring programme tailored to their particular challenges. It supports the young founders in further developing their entrepreneurial skills and their international network.
The 6-month-long Programme Spring 2021 will start with a digital kick-off conference from 1st to 5th of March 2021. During the course of the program, young founders will have the opportunity to develop their company. This will be in support of a personal mentor, exchange ideas with the other young founders, and obtain feedback.
In addition, the Westerwelle Foundation will select the ten best performing Young Founders and invite them to the Top-10-Conference in Berlin in autumn 2021. During this conference, the selected startups will have the opportunity to pitch in front of investors, participate in workshops and networking events, and get an insight into the German start-up scene.
What To Expect
The program will offer;
- The Top-10 Conference – a week-long conference in Berlin for the ten best-performing startups. The startups will be given the unique chance to pitch in front of investors, participate in workshops and networking events and get an insight into the German startup scene. (Travel and accommodation will be covered by the Westerwelle Foundation);
- A personal mentor who is an experienced entrepreneur and will function as a sparring partner with whom you can discuss upcoming challenges and new opportunities;
- There will be a monthly peer mentoring calls with the other successful Young Founders of the cohort. During the calls, you can share knowledge and support each other;
- Expert sessions on relevant topics (e.g. OKRs, investor KPIs, marketing & sales);
- The Young Founders Network – a strong alumni network that functions as a platform for all Young Founders to connect with each other, exchange ideas and find support for existing challenges;
- Exposure to the Berlin startup scene and the public for you and your startup via Westerwelle media channels and networks,
- Assistance beyond the programme. Westerwelle remains a contact person for the Young Founders and will help you to find suitable experts for challenges, offer possibilities to share learnings with current cohorts or celebrate successes.
- There will be a buddy programme that connects alumni of the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme with new Young Founders. This will be for new Young Founders that operate in the same business to potentially open doors and enhance mutual exchange.
Eligibility Criteria
To apply you must meet up the following requirements;
- You recently (in the last 5 years) started a for-profit company with a scalable business model. It should have achieved Product-Market Fit and have ideally secured first external funding (if you run a business model that requires external investment);
- Your company is based in a developing or emerging country or has a strong business focus on developing and emerging economies;
- You possess a good working knowledge of English;
- And, you are available to attend the digital kick-off conference and can make time to participate in monthly mentoring peer mentoring calls for the 6-month programme.
- And, foreign applicants must possess valid travel documents (including a visa, if necessary) to enter Germany and valid travel medical insurance.
Westerwelle Young Founders Programme 2021 Timeline
- Application deadline (9 December 2020. 12 am CET)
- Skype interviews with shortlisted candidates (2nd of Jan. to 31st of January 2021)
- Jury decision and selection of participants (4th of February 2021)
- Notification of all applicants (6 of February 2021)
The deadline for application for the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme Spring 2021 is December 9, 2020. Do you want to join this train, use this link to apply; https://westerwelle-foundation.com/en/projects/westerwelle-young-founders-programme/
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