Why Top Accelerators Are Partnering With Startup Scout  

Publish date:

November 18, 2022

Accelerators are always on the hunt for the next class of unicorns, but with thousands of startups all jostling for seed funding, trying to pinpoint the ones worth taking a gamble on can sometimes seem like an insurmountable task.

Making this challenging situation even more complicated is the fact that many of the best projects often work incognito, shunning typical marketing strategies to publicize their mission or investment deals before releasing a well-polished MVP. Most won’t even bother registering with one of the industry’s go-to databases of promising startups.

Putting together a list of viable startups can take a lot of time and manpower, which is why more and more accelerators are turning to professional scouts to bolster their program pipelines, freeing up their internal teams to work on other, more pressing matters.  

This is where Leadspicker can help. Already working with some of the world’s top accelerators, we have a firsthand understanding of the specific needs facing these elite programs. 

Delivering results within weeks

We automate essentially the entire scouting process. Our Startup Scout platform uses a sophisticated machine-learning algorithm to scan the Internet and gather a huge cache of qualified startups — including those not listed on any other directory — that specifically match your accelerator’s requirements. 

Our team evaluates the results and shortlists the candidates. We make the initial contact via the accelerator’s own email accounts. Startup Scout then delivers the top players who are not only qualified but also interested in joining the accelerator’s program. 

Our tried-and-tested AI is guaranteed to save our clients not just time but also money. 

“Over the last several years we have become the preeminent scouting partner to some of the leading accelerators in the US, Europe and the DACH region,” says Leadspicker CEO Vlastimil Vodicka. 

Startup Scout’s AI can find and deliver the most promising projects on today’s market in a matter of weeks, easily cutting the time accelerators spend on the scouting process in half.   

Vodicka began laying the foundation for Startup Scout while working as a senior associate with the World Bank’s Investment Readiness program. Since 2013, he’s sourced early-stage projects for companies like Cisco, Erste Bank, PwC, Telefonica and Konica Minolta, among others.

But Vodicka grew increasingly frustrated by all the work involved to research, qualify and contact relevant startups, and began looking into developing software that could automate this process.   

Automate or get left behind 

Startup Scout initially focused on deal-flow generation. Leadspicker also explored ways to cut down on the time employees at startup accelerators, consulting companies and corporate innovation labs were spending on repetitive daily tasks. 

The answer was simple: automate everything that can be automated. 

We’ve had a lot of success with this simple core strategy over the years. 

Ford, for example, was looking for IT firms in the US to innovate some of its business divisions. The automobile manufacturer spent a lot of money, time and human resources on the effort with no meaningful results. Leadspicker, however, jumped in a few weeks before Ford’s deadline and quickly did the work of several people that would have otherwise taken months to complete.    

BetahausX, a Berlin-based innovation agency that provides access, strategic design, scouting, and talent engagement to dozens of large corporate companies in Germany, successfully applied Leadspicker’s SaaS platform to streamline its processes and attract more business. 

“Automation is key. It will keep you three steps ahead of your competition,” says Vodicka. “The startup world is constantly changing, and if you don’t move fast enough, great investment opportunities will quite literally slip through your fingers.”  

Call and discuss your startup needs with us today!

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