When you take part in the acceleration programme offered by Huge Thing, you will gain: 

• Support up to PLN 200,000; 
• Access to mentors and an expansive network of contacts in Poland and abroad, e.g. 500 Startups, Techstars or Berlin Startup Consulting;
• Individual work with a mentor who will help you achieve your project’s goals and milestones;
• Possibility of cooperation with Alior Bank and Speedup VC Group;
• Pre-acceleration and acceleration programme,
• Expanding knowledge and skills relating to defining problems, identification of the target group, creating presentations and pitch decks, development of products and UX, pitching, marketing, communication, budgeting and other financial aspects;
• Confronting your idea with experts in a given industry; 
• Support in the process of obtaining further financing; 
• Two trips abroad to Berlin and London in order to learn about the local start-up environment and acquire potential partners;
• Access to co-working space in Warsaw – Brain Embassy;
• Members of Huge Thing Alumni.

Participation in the Programme is free.

To join the Programme you have to take part in one of the recruitments and meet the following conditions:

• You are in the process of developing a project meeting the needs of the National Intelligent Specialisations, particularly in the area of fintech, blockchain, biometry, authentication, IoT and AR;
• At least one of the members of your team can work in the accelerator every day;
• You come from one of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe; 
• Your project is in the stage of a working prototype (MVP);
• You will sign the required documents confirming participation in the programme.

Acceleration place: Warsaw

Huge Thing, SpeedUp VC Group and Alior Bank reserve the possibility of participating in an investment within 24 months from the end of the accelerator.

Within this project, there will be two rounds of the acceleration programme. The duration of one round is 6 months maximum.

1^st round: February  2017 – September 2017;
2^nd round: September 2017 – April 2017

SCHEDULE AND COURSE OF RECRUITMENT

• Recruitment start – recruitment to particular editions of the accelerator takes place through an active submission form. 
• Recruitment end – recruitment lasts approximately 6 weeks. 
• Formal and professional assessment – checking the formal criteria of the submitted projects, such as legal status, compliance with the National Intelligent Specialisations. 
• Concluding a contract – formal acceptance of a team to the acceleration programme, granting the first financing instalment.
• Acceleration start – starting works within the programme.

If you are accepted to join the programme, you will need to complete the following steps: 

• You will start with the pre-acceleration programme, where you will meet the Huge Thing team, you will verify the possibility of implementing your product into the processes of Alior Bank and you will have the opportunity of achieving the acceleration goals;
• You will work in a workshop-based format, e.g. you will learn about the Lean Canvas method, you will participate in individual mentoring sessions when you develop your product;
• The top 10 teams from the first stage will participate in the acceleration stage where they will continue to work on executing the defined goals and milestones;
• Additionally, during the programme, the following events will be organised:
  • Two trips abroad (to London and Berlin) in order to meet the potential business partners and to develop a network of international business contacts;
  • Talent Day – you will learn about and initiate the process of staffing your future employees;
  • VC Speed Dating – you will meet the potential investors;
  • Demo Day in Warsaw – you will present the effects of works performed during the acceleration programme.