Cassini Business Accelerator

CASSINI Business Accelerator

#EUSpace

Europe-wide accelerator boosting the commercial growth of top space startups and scaleups through a 6-month, intensive acceleration programme.

Who We're Looking For

European space startups and scaleups

Companies with proven commercial traction and product-market-fit

Highly-ambitious and versatile founding teams

And looking to increase their sales

The Programme

Benefits

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International growth oriented, focus on sales, and investment
Hybrid Training
Extensive skill & capability development plan tailored to your needs
Collaboration between european accelerators
Large network with access to local markets & stakeholders
Qualified mentors
Highly-qualified mentors to help accelerate your business development & fundraising
Mentoring and fundraising
E-learning and monthly webinars with leading experts
Benefit
Introductions to relevant investors during Matchmaking & Demo Day events
Non-dilutive financing
Fundraising support and a 75,000€ voucher for startups who successfully complete the programme
The Programme

Timeline

Open Call for Applications for Batch

Fall Applicants: August - September | Spring Applicants: January - March
Three Antennas

Applications for our next Batch from November 2024 - April 2025 will open on August 19.

Startup Selection

Fall Applicants: October | Spring Applicants: April
Timeline

The programme team will assess all applications and select 20 participating companies per batch.

6 month programme

Fall Batch: November - April | Spring Batch: May - October
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Focus on business and investment coaching, training, events & more. An accelerator tailored to meet the needs of your company. 

Batch Meetup

Fall Batch: November | Spring Batch: June
Kick-off

In-person batch meetup to bring together all batch participants. All participating companies, lead coaches and accelerator teams will participate. 

Demo Day

Programme End
demo day

Marks the end of the programme, graduation of batch startups, through a networking event with investors. 

Fall Batch: April - May

Spring Batch: October - November

CASSINI Business Accelerator

The CASSINI Space Entrepreneurship Initiative is a European Commission entrepreneurial support mechanism that cuts across all components of EU Space Programme. It offers actions targeted at the full entrepreneurial lifecycle - from idea generation to market entry and growth – and covers both the upstream and downstream sectors. The CASSINI Business Accelerator is part of the CASSINI initiative. CASSINI includes a seed and growth fund, as well as hackathons and mentoring, prizes, a business accelerator, partnering and matchmaking. Launched in January 2023, the CASSINI Business Accelerator is the biggest space startup accelerator in Europe.

FAQs

Upon being selected into the programme, startups will participate in a 6-month accelerator.

For fall applicants: Runs from November to April

For spring applicants: Runs from May to October

The programme is flexible and you can join both in person in one of our European offices available, or online. We request in-person presence only at the batch kickoff moment.

No, you must be an EU-registered entity to apply for the programme (Norway & Iceland included, Switzerland is excluded).

You need to successfully complete the full 6-month programme to receive the seed voucher. Success will be determined at the beginning of the batch between you and your lead coach.

No, you don’t need to give up any equity to participate or to receive the voucher.

All activities are covered by the programme, you only need to cover your travel and accommodation expenses.

To complete your application, we request you fill in some information about the participating company and founders, your latest pitch deck, and a video showcasing your motivation to join the CASSINI Business Accelerator. Find all information listed here in this document.

All applications will be treated with complete confidentiality, governed by our Terms and Conditions and privacy statements.

Yes, you can participate in other programmes, however bear in mind this programme is entirely tailored to the needs of your company, so active participation is encouraged to obtain the desired results, and to successfully complete the programme.

For fall applicants: Our selection period will be held during the month of October. You will hear back from us before the beginning of November on the results of the selection process.

 

For spring applicants: Our selection period will be held during the month of April. You will hear back from us before the beginning of May on the results of the selection process.

The voucher is awarded to startups who successfully complete the 6 month programme; there are no limitations in how you make use of the voucher.

Your video should be maximum 1.5 minutes long. In this video, you should tell us about your reasons to apply for the accelerator, your current challenges as a growing company, your expectations about the programme and what you hope to get out of it.

The deadline to apply for our fourth batch is September 30th at 23.59 CET.

To access a previous application, please contact the CASSINI Business Accelerator directly via hello@accelerator.cassini.eu

Contact

Get in touch with us by filling in the form below. The CASSINI Business Accelerator Team is happy to help you. Let’s collaborate!