What do you offer?
Selected teams will receive up to 40’000 EUR in cash in addition to training and acceleration services, and will be required to move to Nana Bianca’s headquarters in Florence, Italy for the entire 16 weeks duration of the program. Selected teams could also be asked to move to Estra’s facilities for a limited period.

At what stage of development should my prototype be?
We value applications from teams who have a marketable prototype, but we also accept beta-phase prototypes that only need some minor, final developments. You will be required to provide a link to your demo in the application form.

Do you have any preference related to market sectors or business models?
At this stage, we welcome applications for projects whose business models relate to Smart City Solutions, Retail Energy and Fintech, Mobility, Telecommunications, Energy Efficiency and Mobile, IoT, Machine Learning and AI solutions, Marketing and Telecommunications, Sharing and Circular Economy. We do have extensive experience in online marketing, advertising tech, mobile and e-commerce, but we believe in synergies and rely on a powerful network of mentors. Feel free to apply if your product and team are great.

I am the sole founder of a project, can I still apply?
We do not necessarily believe in one-man shows, but we are more interested in great products. Show us that your product is great and we will try and match you with potential teammates.

What is the program like?
Ours is an intensive, insane, globally-oriented acceleration program that lasts 16 weeks and requires teams to relocate to Florence, Italy. We match you in a 1-1 relationship with a mentor of outstanding international experience that will follow up with you once a week, for 4 months. You will have to attend all of our training sessions, and you will be matched with two tutors who will support you every day. We will test and reiterate your business model with the help of our marketing, IT and graphic departments. Our program schedule is tight: each week is a module and each module has milestones. Our goal is to help you show the traction and metrics you need to proceed to the next stage.

Do incorporated companies and teams follow different paths during the program?
They do not. We are only interested in your business idea and the demo you have worked on. Our program is standardized. However, customized paths could be defined depending on companies’ specific needs.

I do not have a registered company. Should I have a registered office in Italy?
Yes, in this case all selected founders need to have a registered office in Italy. We will support you with the company incorporation. Be aware that company registration in Italy is compulsory and that you will have 60 days upon admission to the program to register the new company. No worries though, we will support you with that.

Will I receive the grant all at once?
No. You will receive money in tranches, against milestones that we will communicate upon admission to the program.
The whole grant (cash and services) will be assigned entirely throughout the program.
Some of these milestones are program-generic, some are team-specific. While all general milestones will be communicated upon admission of the program, some team-specific milestones could be given on the go. Please note that milestones achievement are a prerequisite to get the assigned tranches of money.

Who will be my mentor?
Our mentors are here to help you go global. Each admitted team gets assigned to one mentor. The assignment is at our own discretion.

Will my mentor be entitled to an equity share?
Equity assignment will not be automatic at this stage. Just make sure you make the most out of your relationship and think long term.

What is the level of commitment that is expected from me?
We expect 250% commitment from you. Our program is intensive, and it is designed to help promising startups become global players. You and your team will be immersed in the arena from day 1 and are expected to participate, contribute, and make the most out of every input we provide you with. It will be an amazing journey and we are sure you will have a lot of fun.