Raise
Programme
Raise is an intensive 10 week in person programme to get underrepresented founders with impact businesses in Belgium investor ready.
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Applications closed, reserve list available.
Raise Funding to Scale your Impact Solution!
Join a programme, a community and an ecosystem to help you build a successful impact business.
This Raise cohort is set up to help more diverse founding teams in Belgium successfully fundraise and scale their business.
Raise offers access to knowledge, network & capital through a mix of knowledge, insights, practical tools, exercises, technical understanding and networking opportunities with local investors.
This bespoke programme is adapted to the participating founders and works with small groups of underrepresented founders that are ready to scale their business.
From Day 1, I wanted to fundraise in a way that is authentic to me as a founder and Vyld as a company. The Raise programme helped me understand and evaluate the funding options available to me and, in the end, even led to a direct investment from the Impact Shakers Microfund. Would highly recommend this programme to founders who want to own their fundraising journey!
Ines Schiller
Founder & CEO - Vyld
Join Raise
Raise was set up to help diverse founding teams get the unfair advantage of being the best prepared person in the room. You will get to learn and grow with a community of exceptional founders and impact investors. The programme is designed and taught by investors, which makes it unique.
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Join the other side of the table.
The programme will focus on the following subjects and will host sessions with experts and networking events with investors.
Understanding
the Basics
Fundraising
Strategy
Creating
an excellent
pitch deck
Venture
Economics
Talking and negotiating
with investors
Navigating and addressing bias
Residential Leadership
Retreat
Pitch Event
Our Approach
Modules
During 6 weesk we'll host in person sessions in Brussels in which we'll take you through the material and make room for questions and discussion.
Tools & Exercises
​We developed tools to support you during and after the programme and a number of practical exercises that help you integrate what you learned.
Guest Q&A
We invite some of the most credible investors out there to share their experience with you.
Curated Content
We share some of the best sources we have come across from experts across the globe.
Case Study
We built a case study so you can go through at least one full process that helps you apply the new investment skills. The best way to learn about fundraising is to discuss different possible scenarios and implications of different instruments and economics.
Who we're looking for
Impact Businesses in Belgium
Exceptional Diverse Founders
We invest in people. Your business will still change a lot and we invest in those that have the resilience and strength to steer it and their team into the future.
Scalable Impact Solutions
Understand the impact you want to make. You don't have to have a shiny impact model yet, we'll build one together and help you keep your mission in focus.
Problem Market Fit
We love learning about the problem you want to solve and the market and your place in it. Teach us something new and we'll be the happiest and most curious kids in class.
User Passion
If you understand and care about the real pain points of your users and can offer them a solution, you're well on your way to building a successful business.
Residential Retreat
We will kick off the programme with a residential retreat in Portugal from Sept 14-17. You take care of transportation and we take care of everything else!
The retreat will be focused on personal development and will give us the opportunity to truly understand who wants to build which type of business and how.
Timing
Applications Open
4 July
Applications Close
31 July
​Interviews
31 July - 15 Aug
Selection
20 Aug
Kick off - Retreat
14-17 Sept
We accept people on a rolling basis, even before the deadline of July 31st.
There are only 10 seats available, so apply now!
FAQ
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Who should apply?Any early or growth stage for-profit company, registered in the continent Europe (including the UK), that has social and/or ecological impact with at least one underrepresented founders. We are raising a pre-seed/seed impact investment fund that we hope to have live by January 2023, so ideally companies that would be ready for an investment round by then. We aim to invest in companies coming from our impact ecosystem.
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Do I have to have a legal entity?Preferably yes, but it could also be registered by the starting date of the accelerator, June 1st 2022.
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What is the cost to participate?There is no cost to participate in the programme. We do ask for some advisory equity in return.
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Do you take equity?We work according a slicing pie principle. If one of us wins, we all win. In the accelerator, we take some advisory equity in exchange for the offered support. We ask for 2% and we will offer you 0,2% in Impact Shakers BV, the legal entity behind the accelerator.
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​​How many companies will you accept?We will accept 8 companies in this cohort.
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What if I'm building a non-profit?In this programme, we're focusing on businesses that have or will take a for-profit legal form. If yours is non-profit, please drop us a line, we're looking to do a cohort with non-profits and will keep you posted!
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How much will you invest?We will invest 25.000 euros via our microfund in a SAFE type convertible loan. The microfund is a separate legal entity, CV Impact Shakers Coop and is currently being raised with the crowd.
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How do you select participants? Are there any selection criteria?We added four main pillars we’ll select on: Founder team, Problem & Market, Impact & User focus. The businesses we'll select for this accelerator should have a scaleable business model.
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When and how will we participate? How is the programme structured?We don’t make you waste time you don’t have. We focus on setting up a personal development plan and set milestones which we’ll track in progress coaching. We’ll offer workshops and content but none will be mandatory. If there’s any subject you need support with, we’ll look into it and organise a session if needed.
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When will I hear back?If you pass to the next round, we will get in touch with you for an interview. If you submit early, this could be before the closing of applications. We want to get to know you better before we agree to work together for a pretty long time. Don’t hesitate to submit early :) We will notify all applicants before the start of the accelerator.
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Can I change my application after submission?If you believe the new information is crucial, feel free to email us at hello@impactshakers.com.
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Which HQ countries can participate?All countries on the continent Europe (including the UK).
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This page will be regularly updated.Keep an eye on it. Any other questions you need answered before applying, email us at hello@impactshakers.com.
