Colorintech

What is Rise?

Rise is Colorintech’s pre-accelerator program that puts entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds through an 8-week program. The program is made up of workshops, lectures, and office hours covering a range of invaluable content for early-stage entrepreneurs. The aim is to help founders accelerate their ideas, learn best practices while gaining access to a community of fellow founders, investors, and experts.

01

Fits around your schedule

Workshops in the evenings and weekends

02

World-class experts

Learn from experienced operators and successful investors

03

Showcase

Pitch your startup to leading early stage investors and accelerators

Entry Requirements

You identify as belonging to an ethnic minority
You are pre-seed and have not raised more than £150k
You have an idea or product in MVP stage or early product-stage, that uses technology to solve a real demonstrable problem
Enthusiastic and ready to network and grow with others
You can commit to the 8-week program (4 hours a week)
You are based in Europe

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The Program

Designed in collaboration with industry partners, our program is specifically for pre-seed founders

1

Founder Resilience

We uncover the highs and lows of the startup journey and techniques you can use to recognise stress and build resilience

2

Building an MVP

Understand the building blocks of creating a minimum viable product and getting feedback from users

3

Mastering the pitch

Learn the value of storytelling and the components of a great pitch

4

Building relationships and creating a culture

Explore how to build relationships with customers, co-founders and employees

“Even though I've been part of a founding team before, I've never taken the lead in fundraising and pitching. Rise has given me the confidence and the platform to pitch live, learn fundraising basics, and share my story for the first time.”

RiseAcceleratorFounder4

Jaron Soh, founder of Voda

Key Dates

All the dates you need to know

October 22, 2020

Rise applications opens

December 2, 2020

Interviews

January 14, 2021

Announce 2021 cohort & Founder On-boarding

Immersion

Selected students have the opportunity to join our Immersion trek where they will go to one of the leading tech hubs in Europe or the US

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2020 Mentors

Andy Davis

General Partner & Co-founder, 10x10

Ruben Portz

Founder of TractionPad

Jason Roberts

Kaleida International

Marisa Nzekwe

Vice President, New & Strategic Channels - Silicon Valley Bank

Dami Hastrup

Co-founder and CEO of MOONHUB

Lenna Lou

Founder of The L Factor

Marcel Frei

Co-founder of GMT Finances

Imelda Fossu

Growth Marketer

Our Sponsors

We've worked with

Our Alumni

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FAQs

Will I have to attend sessions in-person?

Most of our workshops take place online. However, our final sprint will be an in-person residential in London and our Showcase event will also be in-person. If you are outside of London, we will support you to be able to attend these events (travel and other expenses).

Can I apply as a team?

The CEO or main founder should apply, if multiple founders are from underrepresented backgrounds. Otherwise, only a founder fitting our criteria should apply. More than one person from the same startup should not apply.

I don't have a startup idea. Can I still apply?

We are looking for founders actively working on an idea at MVP or early-product stage. If you are still at the ideation stage, we would love to direct you to our free Rise Online course, you can find all the basics for building a venture here, rise.colorintech.org.

Who should apply to Rise?

The Rise Accelerator is designed for underrepresented entrepreneurs with a tech startup, who identify as belonging into one or more of the underrepresented groups including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, and other.

I already have a startup, can I apply?

Yes. If you already have a startup it means we can tailor our workshops around your actual business. We also can make the right introductions to our network of investors and mentors. So long as you fit our criteria, you can apply.

What are the key dates for Rise 2023?

Applications are open for around 5 weeks starting from 7th December. The programme runs from 28th Feb until the end of May 2023.

What happens after Rise?

We will support you on this programme to get funded and take the next steps with your startup. We'll have more programmes, events, and opportunities you could be invited to, and other new systems you'll be able to take advantage of. But whatever happens next, you'll join our extended Colorintech family of entrepreneurs and advisers and be invited to alumni events.

Do you take equity?

No and we have no plans to ever ask for some in the future. Colorintech is a registered non profit and our only objective is to help underrepresented entrepreneurs on their journey.

How much does the program cost to join?

The program is free. If you would like to support Colorintech financially please contact us.

Does my idea have to be a technology business?

Given the content of the program and the instructors expertise, we believe those who would like to develop tech enabled businesses would gain the most from the program.

Is there an age limit for this program?

No. We want to make this program inclusive and open to people from a breadth of underrepresented backgrounds regardless of age. However, you must be 18+ to apply.