CRL Accelerator 2018-19

#HomeOfHardware

Connect by Mar 16 '19

Apr 8-Sep 8 '19 (5 months)

London, UK

LONDON’S HOME OF HARDWARE

Central Research Laboratory (CRL) is a London based Hardware Accelerator and Coworking space for innovative startups that design and make physical products.

CRL supports LONDON’S HOME OF HARDWARE

Central Research Laboratory (CRL) is a London based Hardware Accelerator and Coworking space for innovative startups that design and make physical products.

CRL supports designers and engineers at every stage of the entrepreneurial journey – from concept development, through prototyping and first batch and beyond – with mentoring and investment provided along the way.

We help ambitious hardware startups accelerate their journey towards manufacture and turn them into scalable businesses. We cover business model, prototyping, design for manufacture and a chance to pitch for further funding for up to £100k. Startups received a £5k grant on entry plus a fully funded manufacture trip to Shenzhen, China or a relevant European manufacturer

Our 6 month programme starts each September, with applications opening over summer.

Criteria to apply

· A working prototype
· Preferably 2 or more founders in the team
· The desire to build a scalable physical product business
· A product or business model displaying genuine innovation

Whether you are working on your product and don’t know how to turn it into a business; an early stage startup looking for scalable growth and funding; or currently going through the process of design for manufacture - we would like to hear from you! more

Saving

The questions below are designed to give us the best possible under- standing of your aspirations and progress to date. Please try to answer them all.

Business Address & Post Code
If you are incorporated then in which country?
Describe your product solution in ten words or less.
Business Overview and background: the story so far, big wins, big losses.
How is your solution special, what is your USP?
How do you compare with the competition: what do you get that they don’t?
What makes you the right team? What are your skills and their fit with business need?
Are you adaptable? The best teams know when to alter their approach, to pivot and simplify. Is this something you are willing to do?
Product resolution: what state is the product in right now? Have you reached Proof of Concept, Minimum Viable Product, fully working prototype, pre production samples? Can you forsee any technical hurdles to overcome?
What is your business model: how will you make money?
Market Size and scalability: what evidence do you have of market size, how will you scale your business to satisfy this market? What might hinder growth?
Traction & Community: do you have a community that is interested in your product? How big is your mailing list? Do you have letters of intent from retailers?
IP Protection: Do you have any registered patents, design rights, copyrights? What is stopping the competition from copying you?
Given our Higher Education funding we like to track Universities and Colleges that founders have studied at. Please tell us about past or present links to such places.
Previous support: have you taken part in a business support, accelerator or incubation programme in the past? Please tell us if so.
Have you raised funding yet and, if so, how much? This includes grants, prizes, loans and investments.
Cash runway. At your planned burn rate, how long will your current resources last you before you need to raise more funds?
How is your business structured, how is equity currently split? Does any other enter- prise currently participate in your company; do you participate in any other enterprise?
Are you an SME? (a business with fewer than 250 employees, an annual turnover of under €50million and a balance sheet of less than €43 million) - we have to ask!
Programme commitment: during the programme there will be mandatory sessions and will require a relevant team member present. Will you commit to this?
What is your top level plan? Do you have any big milestones coming up? Please include crowdfunding, technical milestones, other funding objectives.
Accelerator goals: if you could leave the CRL with one achievement, what would it be? Crowdfunding success! Manufacturable product! Angel Investment!
Please provide anything that you think may help us to understand your product, such as: sketches, 3D design files or images of working prototypes, a business plan, or draft pitch. (Max file size 30MB.)

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