Net set

At last week’s Essential Web conference in London, Saul Klein launched Seedcamp, an initiative that aims to help some lucky young web entrepreneurs in Europe turn their ideas into commercial reality. Through seed funding and intensive mentoring and support, Seedcamp provides an important incentive to the growth of home-grown web businesses in the EMEA region.

The process is simple:

• Apply to participate through the Seedcamp website; teams must have a minimum of 2 and maximum of 5 members, have no signficant prior funding and must have a prototype
• The twenty most promising projects are selected to meet in London in September, when intensive expert mentoring is provided in all aspects of product and business development.
• Five are selected from this group and are offered 50,000 Euro in seed funding to come to London for three months to develop their products, again with the help of intensive mentoring, networking and support from relevant experts.

Aside from seed funding, the most significant benefit to participants is access to years of combined wisdom from experts on a daily basis throughout the project. As Saul said, the five teams will have access to a rolodex that would take years to build. As well as receiving assistance with legal and accounting matters, the team will have access to product developers, serial entrepreneurs and design gurus. And, for all twenty teams that make it to the selection weekend, there is the opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and insights as well as significant publicity and exposure.

Seedcamp is an important milestone in developing an entrepreneurial culture in Europe where, for too long, we have depended on state support, with the limitations and lack of risk this entails. The success of Open Coffee Clubs (another Klein initiative) indicates the value of bringing innovators and financiers into direct contact with each other. Seedcamp takes this one step further by providing an intense incubation and mentoring service for the participating teams.

So, if you are a young entrepreneur with a good idea and want a chance to try it out, apply now at the Seedcamp website.