Katapult Accelerator opens for program #6
With program #5 just completed digitally, Katapult Accelerator is already preparing for the 6th. Starting online in early January 2021, deadline for applying is on 15 November. By far not slowed down by Corona, Nina Heir, Managing Director at Katapult Accelerator, shares exciting news.
What is happening at Katapult Accelerator these days?
At Katapult Accelerator we just finished our 5th accelerator program, with 11 talented impact-tech startups from 9 different countries. As our 5th program has come to an end, we have now shifted our focus onto sourcing, screening, and selecting startups for our 6th program starting early 2021. Our application portal will be open until the 15th of November, so if you´re a founder solving real social and/or environmental challenges with the use of technology, you can apply today at Katapult Accelerator. We are also in the midst of laying out the strategy for new exciting projects.
What are you excited about right now?
We are strengthening the organization and expanding into new verticals, geographies, and program concepts. This process will require more resources, and we are very excited that we will be hiring new talents over the coming months.
How about events, general news, collaborations, projects?
As with all our accelerator programs, we closed our 5th cohort with a Demo Day. However, in true 2020 spirit, we did it in a completely different format and opened up the Demo Day to our global audience through an online event. To learn more about the talented founders of our 5th program, you can watch the recording from Demo Day here.
In the past weeks, we have also been lucky enough to be featured in the news, and you can read more about our plans for the future here:
Finansavisen
Shifter
What makes Katapult Accelerator different from other co-working spaces and hubs?
At Katapult Accelerator we're passionate about doing what we can to help talented impact-tech founders succeed. Our hands-on accelerator program focuses on startups that are using technology to build solutions for some of the most pressing issues of our time. We have a global mandate and the startups we work with are building solutions within clean energy, smart cities, health, education, equality, and so forth. Moreover, through our intense 3-month accelerator program, the selected startups get access to capital, our global network of mentors, experts, and investors, in addition to tailored sessions and business tools, all to help them scale their solutions.
In what way(s) is the work Oslo Business Region is doing and your relationship with the organization important for Katapult Accelerator and your community?
The Norwegian startup ecosystem is a small ecosystem, and to be able to succeed, we have to collaborate and build trustworthy relationships across organizations. At Katapult Accelerator we are focused on both helping Norwegian startups scale and enter international markets, and helping international startups to get a foothold in Norway and expand their business here. In this work, the collaboration we have with OBR is essential in terms of activities, events, networks, and knowledge sharing.
One recent example is that our Demo Day was a part of the program for OIW 2020. On one side, this helped us get more attention and a bigger audience for our event through OIW, and on the other hand, we contributed with relevant content to this year’s OIW program.