Seedcamp Week is our quarterly flagship event. Ambitious startups from across Europe are invited to join Seedcamp and our network of investors and mentors. Throughout the week the startups present, network, and receive feedback on their product. At the end of the week a number of the startups are selected to receive investment from Seedcamp and are welcomed into the family.
On Monday 2nd February more than 20 ambitious startups joined us at Campus London to participate in the first Seedcamp Week of 2015.
We kick Seedcamp Week off with Seedprep, so after some short introductions each founder presented their startup to the Seedcamp team and the rest of the group. It was particularly important to receive crucial feedback at this stage so that when they presented throughout the week, no mentor would be left unsure what the startup does and what they’re looking to gain from the week – whether that’s to receive advice on a particular issue or to build up their network.
Fortunately, by the end day the teams were feeling much more prepared and ready for the week ahead!
One of the startup founders presenting to the group.
On Tuesday we introduced the startups to some of the Seedcamp investors. The investors provided valuable feedback on their presentations and delved deeper into the details of their business model. It was both an opportunity for the startups to identify any weaknesses and for us and our partners to assess whether the teams were ready to join the Seedcamp programme.
Seedcamp Partner Carlos Espinal welcoming the mentors on Wednesday
Wednesday and Thursday are the most intense days of Seedcamp Week, as we open our doors to over 250 or Europe’s finest tech startup mentors; from the founders of household name companies, to experienced executives with backgrounds in Marketing, Product, and Finance.
Each Mentor Day provides the startups with the opportunity to showcase their startups and receive valuable feedback on every area of their business.
One of the startups presenting to the audience on Mentor Day
Wednesday began with each startup presenting to the audience of Product-focused mentors. The startups did a great job – the hard work of Monday’s Seedprep paying off. A particular highlight was Cronofy’s introductory line… “We’ve got the API for time.”
The presentations were followed by a special fireside chat with Moo.com founder, Richard Moross. Moo have played a pivotal role in contributing to the growth of London’s tech startup ecosystem, so it was a real honour to have him join and speak with us at Seedcamp Week.
Richard shared with us his 10-year journey of turning a small design-focused business card producer into a global success story that saw him awarded an MBE. The key point was, as they grew they never lost their focus on design and UX. It’s what made (and still makes) them stand out above the competition.
Reshma and Carlos spoke with Richard afterwards to find out some of the key learnings and advice he had for today’s aspiring startups. You can hear Richard’s advice in a podcast here.
Seedcamp’s Dave Haynes speaking with Moo.com founder Richard Moross
Seedcamp is a close-knit family, so when it came to lunch there was no better company to help us out than Shoprocket, who themselves joined us having successfully participated in September 2014’s Seedcamp Week London – thanks, guys!
Refuelled, the mentoring sessions began. For the rest of the afternoon, three whole floors of Campus London were abuzz with conversations about how to reach that pivotal product/market fit, and how to secure their first paying customers – amongst many other things!
One of the mentors advising a startup during Mentor Day
After the intensity of a full afternoon gleaning every bit of insight and advice they could, the startups and mentors headed over to our friends at Runway East to unwind with drinks and music. Of course, none of the startups missed this opportunity to network!
Startups and mentor networking at Wednesday’s party
We can only assume hangovers were avoided as all the startups made it in the following morning for Day 4…
Thursday’s Mentor Day was all about investment and finance; more than 100 investors from the top global funds and leading finance executives watched the startups nail their final presentations – the improvement over Monday’s was impressive.
Divide‘s co-founder & COO Alex Trewby joined us to tell the story of how he built the Android-focused company before selling to Google as recently as late last year. Carlos and Dave caught up with Alex afterwards to record a podcast about his journey, delving deeper into the challenges faced growing, scaling, and selling a company.
Divide co-founder & COO Alex Trewby speaking to the audience
After a networking lunch, the second afternoon of mentoring began. Often finance isn’t a startup founder’s strongest skill, but this Seedcamp Week included many fintech startups who were quite comfortable speaking about the financial side of things. It was great to hear so many enthusiastic conversations between the founders and mentors.
More mentoring during Thursday’s investor Mentor Day
Week complete, we all excitedly headed over to our friends at Second Home where we were welcomed by founder Rohan Silva for a big party. A huge thank you was given to all our mentors and sponsors who helped throughout the week, and to the startups themselves who were an absolute pleasure to host.
Rohan Silver speaking to the audience at Second Home
The announced teams will be joining us as of next week, and we can’t wait to help them grow into the billion-dollar global companies they can be!
If you run a disruptive startup with global ambitions, we want to hear from you! View our events page to apply to the next Seedcamp Week or meet with the Seedcamp team in advance. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for the latest news. Best of luck!