StartUp
Academy 3.0
Learn how to grow and scale a successful tech business and hit your stride
Free online program on how to scale profitable tech businesses, taught by the founders and C-level executives of global tech companies
Duration: 2 months
Free two-month online program on how to scale profitable tech businesses, taught by the founders and C-level executives of global tech companies
Founder
Discover what it takes to scale up a company with input from world-renowned experts.
C-level executive
Learn about the building blocks of tech startups and get step-by-step business tactics.
The program is designed mainly for tech-driven startups starting from Seed and higher stages of development, in domains such as FinTech, EdTech, Mobility, B2B (SaaS) and Apps, but not limited to.
Why enroll in StartUp Academy?
Program
Refine your product by participating in deep-dive lectures, practicing with real-world cases, and discovering new business horizons.
Mentorship
Participate in a series of individual sessions and receive actionable advice and comprehensive feedback to update your pitch deck.
Investment
Win a chance to raise venture capital for scaling your startup by participating in the Pitch Day at the end of the program. Last year, 5 startups raised investments from $100K to $1 million.
Community
Become a member of the international community of Academy graduates and other СEE entrepreneurs with great ambition and impressive track records, all of whom are able to support and inspire others.
Benefits from partners
Each startup receives an average of $110K worth of financial assistance in the form of credits, free access to their services, and mentoring sessions.
Transform the future
of your business
PROGRAM
Mentorship
During StartUp Academy 3.0, you will be able to work with mentors from the Genesis and Meta communities, founders of global tech businesses. The mentoring program includes both individual and group sessions.
Startup journey reviews with AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally. As a participant of the Academy, explore all the ways that AWS can support startups. Learn how to grow and scale your startup, including planning your journey to receive additional AWS support even up to $100K credits, AWS Marketplace, free training, and one-on-one AWS experts sessions.
Pitch Day
At the end of the program, all participants will have the opportunity to pitch their startups to venture capital funds. We conduct Pre-Pitch, an event during which more than 20 experts and peers provide feedback for each pitch deck. However, we cannot guarantee that your startup will receive funding – it’s all up to you!
Timeline
20.02 – 10.04
Application process
Application form to register
10.04 – 14.04
Selection gate
Online testing
15.04 – 19.04
Selection gate
Pitch Deck review
10.05
Program
start date
22.04 – 03.05
Selection gate
Personal interviews
Grow together with us
Organizers
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Results & Reviews
Together with Meta, Genesis successfully organized StartUp Academy 1.0 & 2.0 and united startup-minded entrepreneurs worldwide.
applications from 60+ countries
startups participated in the program
venture capital funds attended the StartUp Academy 2.0 Pitch Day
secured funds from partners in the form of credits, services, and consultations
VC invested in Academy startups during and after the program
"An insane amount of value add through the meetings that I had with the C-levels suite of Genesis portfolio companies. This contributed by generating exposure for us in front of VCs. Winning [StartUp Academy Pitch Day] was another proof point which helped us speed the conversation and win the trust of u.ventures and raised $1 million totally in this round."
Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0
"Excellent organization from the beginning; rich lectures with a non-standard approach and insights from the “inner kitchen” of a startup builder. Mentors come to sessions prepared with apt questions and hypotheses about your project. [There was a] Pitch Day with a cool lineup in the jury. All of this helped us to build a strategy and take the first steps towards the desired results"
Participant of StartUp Academy 2.0
“For our team, the StartUp Academy was a source of great insights that helped us to level up the company. The most exciting thing about this experience was that the first StartUp Academy became a starting point for Genesis and EducateMe partnership. The learning process of StartUp Academy 2.0. was designed around our platform, and I’ve got a chance to be a learner on it and to get helpful feedback from other participants.”
Participant of StartUp Academy 1.0
Lectures about unit economics and Internet marketing, as well as practical advice from Meta lecturers, helped me find the answer. As a result of the experiment, we determined the basic model of the unit economics and top-level metrics, adjusted the business model and the direction of product development, confirmed the value hypothesis and collected the base of the first users.”
Participant of StartUp Academy 1.0
“I got the insight at one of the lectures on marketing which goes: “Do what no one has done before you. At least in your niche." I have realized that I need to experiment with creatives and convey the value of the product through them. Now the topic of brand strategy and long-term marketing is of great interest to me, so we will launch the first tests.”
Participant of StartUp Academy 1.0
Media about us
December 12, 2022
Ukrainian and European startups raised $5.5 million during the Genesis and Meta StartUp Academy
February 20, 2023
Bloomcoding raises €1M from three European VC funds after StartUp Academy’s Pitch Day
March 17, 2023
StartUp Academy online programme open to tech-driven startups from Latvia
March 17, 2023
StartUp Academy: opportunities for Lithuanian startups from Meta and Genesis
March 14, 2023
Ukraina ettevõte käivitab koostöös Metaga Kesk- ja Ida-Euroopa idufirmadele tasuta koolitusprogrammi
March 25, 2023
Svjetski divovi spremni za ulaganja u Hrvatskoj
March 23, 2023
Български стартъпи могат да кандидатстват в програмата на Genesis и Meta
March 13, 2023
Genesis і Meta запустили третю програму для IT-підприємців та топменеджерів. Як долучитися?
We want to support Ukrainian startups, founders, and their teams. Therefore, we provide a special quota for them by allocating 15% of all seats in the Academy to Ukrainian startups only.
your business!
Frequently asked questions
If you have any questions, please contact us
1. How to join the StartUp Academy
Fill out the application. After submitting your application, you will receive an email confirmation from the StartUp Academy team. If you do not receive this email, please check your junk folder. The selection stages include an online test, the Pitch Deck Review, and an interview. We inform applicants about the results of each preliminary stage by email.
2. Why do I have to go through the selection process?
The idea of StartUp Academy is to provide the most efficient learning experience and enable a personalized connection between each participant and speaker. That is why we have to form a group with a limited number of participants.
3. What are the entry requirements?
The program is designed mainly for tech-driven startups from Seed to Series A stages, in domains such as FinTech, EdTech, Mobility, B2B (SaaS) and Apps, but not limited to them. Only founders or C-level executives of the submitted startup can participate in the program.
4. Is participation free?
StartUp Academy is equity-free. Genesis, Meta, and partners support startups without any exchange of equity or fees. We are a platform where the most promising CEE startups meet the leading tech companies and VCs, as catalysts of fast growth.
5. Can I raise investment for my startup at Pitch Day?
At the end of the program, all participants will have the opportunity to pitch their startups to more than 20 venture capital funds. We look forward to powerful and profound work based on the knowledge gained during Startup Academy 3.0. However, we cannot guarantee that your startup will receive funding. Nevertheless, if you are capable of making the investors truly fall in love with your product, you will get the chance to raise money and scale your business.
6. Do I have any opportunities from partners?
Yes, you can get from $10 to $100K of AWS credits.
Our partners, including Notion, Zendesk, and many others, will support you with credits, free access to their services, and mentoring sessions with their experts. Selected startups will be able to learn detailed information about opportunities from partners and how to activate them at the official opening of the program.
7. How is the learning process organized?
The StartUp Academy program consists of approximately 50+ hours of material delivered over two months. Participants will join online live lectures and discussions, personal presence is required.
Homework, mentoring sessions, mastermind groups, and networking activities are important parts of the learning process. The final stage of the program is Pitch Day, participation in which is determined by the startup's level of preparation and its progress in the initial program.
For the convenience of communication, we use Slack, all online events take place in Zoom, and educational materials and homework are available in our LMS.
8. What will be the working language?
English is our working language.
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StartUp Academy 3.0
Learn how to grow and scale a successful tech business and hit your stride
Contacts
[email protected]
