Empower people to make better financial decisions with the Think Forward Initiative

Pilot matchmaking, capacity and capability building Deadline passed

Get in the Ring, ING, Deloitte, Dell/EMC, Dimension Data and Center for Economic and Policy Research are looking for startups for the Think Forward Initiative. This is a purpose-driven initiative that supports the growth of innovative solutions to make a positive impact on society. Working together with our partners we aim to empower people to make better financial decisions.

 

The deadline for this Challenge has passed, please check out our other Challenges

THE CHALLENGE

The growth track is designed for existing startups that are impacting the lives of people in the areas of daily financial decisions, financing the future and financial literacy. Tailored to individual growth needs, the five-month startup[at]scale proposition track, offers opportunities for collaboration with relevant experts, partners and research institutes. Impact solutions can create a big change for many people when applied on a large scale. The growth track runs simultaneously in two parts with a focus on building capacity and capabilities as well as matchmaking.

CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY BUILDING

Entrepreneurs will get access to the knowledge and know-how needed to tackle some of the growth hurdles they face. With the support of consultants and experts from multiple institutes and corporates, startups are supported to scale. This part consists of useful workshops, mentor meetups, expert sessions and relevant topic specific events that will provide startups with the tools needed to build solutions that will address the challenges society faces. Participating startups will meet once a month and focus throughout this part on 5 core themes: business model optimization, technology and legal, growth strategy, growth hacking and operational scaling.

    MATCHMAKING

    We want to help startups take their business to the next level by scaling alongside partners. The matchmaking part will run simultaneously with the capacity and capability building part and focuses on matching startup solutions to both relevant business units within the different corporate partners, as well as their clients, to establish pilot projects. Matchmaking runs for 2.5 months, after which a GO/NO-GO moment will determine if it is useful to continue the matchmaking support based on the feedback of potential partners. TFI will open doors for startups to relevant decision makers and support them throughout the deal-making process.

      WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU

      This is a fully tailored growth track designed to help a startup scale fast. To enable this, the track has two tailored parts running simultaneously – a capacity and capability building part to accelerate startup growth, and a matchmaking part to test the business case within the right industry and with the right people to scale-up further by collaborating with corporates.

      • Strategic partnerships with ING, Deloitte, Dimension Data, CEPR and Dell/ EMC for expertise and collaborations.

      • Collaboration with experts, mentors and research institutes, to support in your scaling needs.

      • Strong publicity via the TFI channels and community members and media channels of our partners.

      ADDITIONAL CRITERIA

      • Fit with Think Forward Initiative purpose: solution should empower people to make better financial decisions

      • Proven traction: approximately 8k active users

      • Funded for ~8 Months

      • B2C or B2B2C solution

      • Willing to share the amount of impact created

      TIMELINE

      NOVEMBER 12TH

      DEADLINE APPLICATIONS


      The deadline for applications is November 12th
      NOVEMBER 23RD

      ANNOUNCEMENT SHORTLISTED STARTUPS


      Shortlisted startups are announce before November 23rd
      DECEMBER 4TH

      SELECTION DAY


      Shortlisted startups are invited for the selection day on December 4th. At the end of the day, the final startups will be announced.
      JANUARY 14TH

      KICK-OFF MEETING TFI GROWTH TRACK


      The first meeting of the TFI Growth track is on January 14th.
      Deadline passed

      The deadline for this Challenge has passed, please check out our other Challenges