An overview of the most promising accelerators of October: Collider Amsterdam, Zalando Build and thecamp

While 2017 is slowly reaching its end, interesting startup accelerators are still popping up everywhere. This weekly accelerator overview is all about Collider Amsterdam, Zalando Build, and thecamp. The English accelerator Collider is now also active in Amsterdam and has already selected eight startups for their programme. And while Zalando is launching their “Build”-programme to be able to work together with startups, thecamp, the first European transformation, and innovation campus, is opening its doors in southern France. 

Collider Amsterdam

While the accelerator has been successfully active in London for five years since 2013, Collider has now selected eight international startups for their first programme in Amsterdam. The initiative has received more than 200 applications from 54 countries for this first cohort. While specializing in marketing, sales, and adtech, Collider supports these business-to-business startups with ‘cash, coaching, and connections.’ It is their goal to help brands and agencies understand, find and reach customers more efficiently. In other words, the accelerator focuses on the search for the sweet spot between startups and brands, which in turn creates added commercial value.

Ellen Bark-Lindhout, co-founder, and CEO of Collider Amsterdam stated the following: “I am very excited about this first cohort. Our angel investors made the final selection and chose strong founders and a good spread of innovative services within our scope”. Collider Amsterdam’s Class of 2017 will start on October 4th in B.3, the latest building of B.Amsterdam. This class will consist of the startups ClicksHelp, Consentio, Findur, Hyphen, Paidtrends, Recommendme, Roborzoid and last but not least SoSport. Potential angel investors can still participate in this cohort, but there is limited space left, so act now!

Zalando Build

Zalando is looking for startups that can provide solutions to improve the personalization of the customer experience. It includes solutions in the fields of sizing & fitting, styles & outfits and inspirational content. Marc Lamik, Head of Partnerships at Zalando, stated the following: “Creating a better customer experience means offering a more personalized and inspirational fashion experience. We are proud to announce landing our first partner, and we are looking forward to other successful cooperations in the future.”

Their first partner is the Israeli startup Bllush, a company that is active in the category “inspirational content.” Bllush combines images of important influencers to the online platform of the Zalando Fashion Store. Everything you’ll see in these pictures is “shoppable”, creating a better connection between Zalando’s customers and relevant influencers. The feature will first be tested in the sports category of the German Fashion Store.

Lamik also emphasized the importance of Build to Zalando’s platform strategy. “We aim to connect all the players in the fashion industry to each other. Our partners will be offered the opportunity to integrate their solutions into the Zalando Fashion Store, which in turn will enable them to reach millions of consumers in Europe. Therefore, startups can benefit from our reach, while we get the chance to implement new services more efficiently and to try new things.”

thecamp

Last but not least is the first European transformation and innovation campus thecamp. It stands for social, systemic and sustainable innovation, where technology is used to amplify human intelligence. The first learning experiences that will be offered here are workshops called “The Essentials.” These workshops cover key subjects allowing you to explore issues shaping today’s world and to make strategic decisions with confidence.

Another original feature of the campus is the self-designed learning experience. Participants can design their learning paths with full schedule flexibility. Participants can attend individual workshops, or subscribe to a pass of 3 or 6 workshops combined. Additionally, project – and organizational teams can participate in the workshops together, as each can design his or her learning experience to fit the project’s need. Following the format of “The Essentials”, individuals and organizations can participate in longer-term “Transformational Journeys” to address specific innovative objectives.

According to thecamp, the unique value of the campus is its broad ecosystem of private and public organizations, technology entrepreneurs, academics, and artists – all working together on innovation projects under topics like urban innovation, education and health, the ocean, and alternative business models. Each participant should be able to tap into this ecosystem for support and collaboration.