Four times a year we host our flagship Seedcamp Week event; twice in London and twice in Berlin. It’s an opportunity for startups to meet experienced entrepreneurs, investors and product experts from across Europe and participate in an intense week of mentoring, masterclasses and presentations.
We’ve welcomed many hundreds of startups to Seedcamp Week since 2007 and have invested in over 130 of them to-date. But Seedcamp Week isn’t just an opportunity to raise investment – in fact, we believe its long-term value can far surpass any cheque we could sign.
With more startups applying every year, we wanted to find out which aspects of Seedcamp Week were most attractive to applicants. So we asked them! Here’s what they said…
A strong network is one vital ingredient in the makeup of any successful startup, and it looks like Seedcamp Week applicants agree. Let’s drill down into the top three reasons startups are so eager to attend Seedcamp Week…
The network
With our launch in London approaching, Seedcamp’s network is a huge opportunity to tell the world we’re coming! – A Seedcamp Week startup
Access to our network can give you several advantages over your competition:
- You’ll have a wide pool of expertise to reach out to when you need guidance
- Your network can introduce you to trusted members of their own networks, like a specialist lawyer or recruiter
- By establishing yourself as a member of a wide network you’ll boost your credibility, opening even more doors
- You’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn from an experienced community
- They’re a positive influence, helping to motivate, inspire, and keep you focused
We’re incredibly proud to have developed one of the world’s strongest networks of investors, mentors and startup entrepreneurs; and we’re glad our applicants see the benefits of being part of it.
Fortunately, for those startups who haven’t participated in Seedcamp Week or aren’t otherwise part of the Seedcamp family (yet?) we interview our network of mentors and investors regularly to capture and share their advice over on our YouTube channel.
Product feedback
We’re at Seedcamp to hear feedback from both mentors and peers on our search engine & other product plans to tackle this space – A Seedcamp Week startup
Early and regular feedback is particularly important when trying to reach product/market fit; having early testers helps identify weaknesses in your product and can help validate your market.
At Seedcamp Week we invite a select group of mentors to look at your business and stress-test your product from every angle. The feedback can often be blunt, but it’s sure to be valuable. Sometimes it’s not the product that’s at fault though; for one startup, their product’s purpose wasn’t clear and it wasn’t until one of the mentors said, “Your messaging is wrong” that feedback on the product began to change.
Mentor advice
We are particularly looking for mentors and advisors to guide us through these early stages of our company – A Seedcamp Week startup
It’s good to seek advice, but more important is to seek advice from the right people. Our mentors have a wealth of experience working for and with many successful startups at Board and C-level; Barry Smith (founder of Skyscanner), Mat Braddy (CMO of Just Eat) and Renaud Visage (CTO of Eventbrite) to name just a few.
Seedcamp Week presents a rare opportunity for startups to sit down with such experienced individuals and focus on key aspects of their business, from product/market-fit to marketing to finance. For the startups who do ultimately join the Seedcamp family, the learning doesn’t stop. As part of our Academy, our mentors regularly come in to lead masterclasses in their field of expertise.
And while you may think all this is great for early-stage startups and their founders, even experienced teams such as Teleport, eMoov and Mailcloud have said the experience was invaluable . When you have access to some of the world’s best mentors, there’s no limit on who can benefit.
Fortunately, there are several Seedcamp Weeks throughout the year, so if you’re an ambitious startup and want to make the most of the above opportunities make sure you view our Events page and apply to the next one! We’d love to see you there!