MITA Innovation Hub

YouStartIT is a €30,000 pre-seed equity-free accelerator run by MITA

Connect by May 19 '19

Sep 2-Dec 2 '19 (13 weeks)

Gdynia, Poland

Who the Validator programme is for?

The programme is designed for startup founders whose startup projects are still at an idea stage of development.
Embracing the Lean Startup methodology with its “fail fast” concept, the Validator programme allows you to participate in activities that will help verify that your envisioned solution solves a problem, has a potential market and is able to sustain a business. In a nutshell, the programme helps you validate the business opportunity standing behind your project idea.

What does it consist of?

The programme consists of five sessions, delivered over five consecutive weeks:

● Session 1 – Customer Discovery
Introducing Value Proposition Canvas, the techniques behind identifying the proper customer segment and several Customer Development tactics.
● Session 2 - Market Analysis
Introducing the Market Sizing concept and looking for the best Problem/Solution fit.
● Session 3 - Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Startup Metrics
Introducing the concept of Low Fidelity MVPs and the AARRR startup metrics.
● Session 4 - Business Model Canvas & Communicating the Value
Introducing Business Model Canvas.
● Session 5 - Fundability and Final Presentations
Discussing the fundability requirements and presenting the final pitches of the programme.

The two-hour long meeting sessions are planned to take place once a week. You are expected to deliver results of out-of-the-classroom validation exercises, assigned to you over the previous session.

What is the expected outcome of the programme?

● You will gain an understanding of the rationale behind the need to validate a problem, customer segment and business model.
● You will be equipped with the tools that allow you to independently run tests and exercises involving your target customers, and understand the underlying methodology and rationale of each tool.
● You will gain an understanding of the value of communication, and the methodology of how to clearly and efficiently present your project to your selected target audience. more

Funds ^€30K per founder

Takes 0% equity

Funds 30 startups per year

Saving

Dear Applicant, Thank you for taking the time to fill in this application form. Your responses are going to be available only to the YouStartlT#5 evaluation committee and will not be shared to any third parties. Questions marked with an asterisk * are mandatory. All other questions are voluntary. This gives you the option to provide only information you are willing to share with us at this stage of the application. The average time needed to fill out this questionnaire during our test was around one hour. However, please take whatever time is needed to answer the questions below. The character limit for answers is specifically designed to allow focused, to-the-point answers rather than unnecessarily long entries. In case you'd like to elaborate more on any of the topics, we encourage you to do it in your pitch deck, which you can attach to this application form. We recommend that you fill in the full questionnaire ONLY if you answer the following five questions with a clear and loud YES. 1. I consider my project as early to mid stage 2. I consider my company to be a tech startup that has not made any profits yet, does not have a headcount of more than NINE and, if already incorporated, has not been in business more than FIVE years 3. I am a citizen of the EU, EFTA or EU Candidate Country 4. I will be part of a startup cohort that shares ideas and meets on a regular basis online, and in Malta 5. I will relocate at least one of the co-founders to Malta (if you are applying from abroad) 6. I would love to learn more about "pastizzi" and the beautiful sea life around Malta :)

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Qualifying questions

Which one of the statements below best describes your project?
How many founders does your startup project have? To participate in the YouStartIT programme you must be a team of minimum two co-founders,
We run this program "on location". Will at least one co-founder stay in Malta for the entire programme period (2 Sep '19 - 13 Dec '19)? An absence by the co-founder/s of less than two weeks are possible by mutual agreement.

General

As a startup accelerator we embrace the Design Thinking process and would like to encourage you to use a few materials, we've prepared for you to assist in communicating your project essentials while filling in this application form. Here you'll find the first, introductory document containing several videos, articles and an interesting exercise to warm you up before you carry on with the following application questions. There will be a few more thematic documents available in the sections below. mih.mt/design-thinking-materials-session-1/

What is the name of your startup project.
How many founders does your startup project have?
Who is the co-founder taking up the role of co-ordinator of your startup project? (please provide name, surname, email address and phone number)
Provide an elevator-pitch about your project. Try to use the following format: My project, __(insert name of your project), is solving a problem __ (insert problem) to help __(a target customer) with a unique offering __(insert unique offer). Our solution will make a difference from ___ (insert main competitor(s)) because of the __(your competitive advantage).
What is your area of focus?
Please specify.

Please specify
What is the technology you intend to work with?

Please specify

Please specify

Please specify
Are you already incorporated?
If yes, what type legal entity do you have? For example, partnership, limited liability company, etc.
Please provide a URL for your website/prototype etc. (if you have one)

Company, Customers & Product

Use this material to go through a series of exercises that can help you define and validate the PROBLEM you aim to solve: mih.mt/design-thinking-materials-session-2/

Please provide a broad description of the specific problem you are committed to solve. Who is impacted by this problem? How do you help your customers?
Describe your proposed solution and how you will implement it.
Are there other solutions to tackling the problem highlighted and if so, how is your approach different? Please provide URLs of your competitors.
Who is your customer? Define one or several large or small customer segments.
How do you find / intend to find your customers?
How are you going to make money aka, what's your business model?
For how long have you been working on this startup project?
What was your most recent milestone - product or traction - and what is your next milestone going to be? When do you plan to achieve it?
If you are selected for YouStartIT, what (measurable) objectives would you set for your project to be successful at the end of the programme? Please be specific and make sure that your objective is measurable.

Team

Tell us more about your team. Who you are, your backgrounds and how you know each other?
What skills and capabilities do you have that make you equipped to tackle this project?
Specify the areas you and your co-founders will be responsibility for. What makes you competent enough to address them?

Pitch

Include a link to a 2 min. video introducing yourself (or your team, if there are more co-founders) and why your project matters. Make sure this video stands out! Be creative and show us the passion you have for this project. Please ensure that all provided content is exclusively original and yours. You must not reuse, recycle and publish other people’s work without prior explicit consent of the rightful owner.
Paste YouTube or Vimeo URL Link (ex. www.youtube.com/foo)
If you already have a pitch deck, executive summary, white paper, strategy paper or other relevant material such as wire-frames, mock-ups, etc., please feel free to upload them here. (Max file size 30MB.)If sending more than one document, please send them all in one zipped folder, named after your project.

Expectations

Please identify the three most important areas where you believe you would need extra help during the YouStartIT programme.

AI projects

This is a section to be completed ONLY in case your project is developed using AI technology. Even though completing it is not obligatory, we strongly suggest you provide us with as much information as possible, since this will give us a better understanding of what you do and eventually increase your chances to be selected for the programme.

Why are you using AI in your project? Please provide a short, generic description explaining what role an AI component plays in your project.
What AI techniques, such as, natural language processing, machine learning and deep learning, are you using?
Are you using your own implementation or third party services/libraries?
Explain briefly

Explain briefly
Are you using any machine learning models? If so, what algorithms are being used?

Explain briefly
How accurate is the model and how does it compare with state-of-the-art?
What train and test dataset/s did you use for training your model and testing its performance, and what is the size for both sets?
Are you using any form of predictive analytics? If so, what is the prediction accuracy and what it is based on (e.g., trained model)?
How do you eliminate bias? And what feedback/correction mechanism do you use?
Are there any ethical considerations you had to take?

Blockchain projects

This is a section to be completed ONLY in case your project is developed using blockchain technology. Even though completing it is not obligatory, we strongly suggest you provide us with as much information as possible, since this will give us a better understanding of what you do and eventually increase your chances to be selected for the programme.

What makes DLT/Blockchain superior to a conventional approach in your particular case?
What Blockchain model is your application based on?

Please specify
Please describe the planned initial allocation of your tokens (your team, your contractors, first investors, the public... )
If your token should be tradeable, please describe your plans a bit more in detail.
Which of the points below best describe your token structure?

Please specify
If your token/asset/coin is mineable, which algorithm are you planning to use?

Please specify
Are you planning an STO, ICO or an AIRDROP?

Please specify
On which platform are you going to build your token?

Please specify
Why did you choose this particular platform?
Are you planning to use another platform, other than the one you use for creating your token(s), to manage the distribution (like creating an ERC20 token, but handling the ICO using Ardor)? If yes, please describe the procedure.
How would you classify your token?

Please specify
What is your KYC approach?
Your start-up will generate Intellectual Property (IP) exclusively owned by you. How do you plan to achieve compliance with IP laws, Malta's DLT legislative framework, EU Regulations and Directives (e.g. GDPR, Copyright, Virtual Financial Assets Act, Innovative Technology Arrangements and Services Act and other EU Directives as appropriate).

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How did you find out about the YouStartIT Validator programme?

Please specify
I confirm I have read the following documents: - Rules of Engagement - mih.mt/about-us/rules-of-engagement/ - Call document - mih.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MIH2019-005-CallDocument-V2.0.pdf - Letter of Award - mih.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MIH2019-005-Letter-of-Award-V1.0-Accepted.pdf
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