About

We will help grow your tech venture into a global sustainable business faster and better!

Seed Accelerator™ Team

The Seed Accelerator Programs are being managed by a multi-disciplinary team, led by Patrick Driessen, a global business leader and serial entrepreneur. He is being assisted by various recognized experts in technology startups; a well known expert on technology & product development; a highly regarded expert in marketing, sales and international transactions; a well experienced program & events manager; and one of the foremost experts in transformational change and skills based education.

These leaders will provide day-to-day assistance to the participating entrepreneurs. The leaders will be assisted by the members of the Board of Advisors, a select group of outstanding people, which includes some of the best business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and technology experts.

Further assistance will be provided by members of the Seed Accelerator Mentoring Program, which includes many top-entrepreneurs, well-known business leaders, professional coaches, business mentors and a wide range of subject matter experts to support the leadership team and the entrepreneurs on the various programs. Many of our strategic partners are involved in our programs and provide dedicated and unique value to our portfolio companies.

Seed Accelerator™ Business Model Elements

  • We startup and help grow start-ups: we run seed fund and business accelerator programs for a select number of technology startups in which we take them from idea to becoming an established and successful global technology company.
  • We accelerate the global growth of early-stage and later-stage tech ventures at least 50% faster by assisting in strategising execution and executing global strategies, by utilising our mentors from around the globe, by levering our global networks and by uniting all the programs and elements within the Seed Accelerator ecosystem.
  • We accelerate the personal growth of the founders and entrepreneurs behind these compelling business ides. The entrepreneurial education and mentoring programs we offer are not only focused on helping entrepreneurs startup and fund their business; we are focused on turning the people behind the idea into leading entrepreneurs and company directors, so that they can achieve longer-term sustainable growth and can build successful global technology businesses.
  • We accelerate innovation for medium-sized and large enterprise organisations; we provide and implement custom internal and external innovation acceleration programs to help these organisations boost their innovative and entrepreneurial capabilities. It often means that we create new ventures with or for these clients. Our programs are run by teams of innovative and passionate entrepreneurs, who enable our clients to increase their human capital innovation resulting in the creation of new or improved products, services, brands and business models, thus boosting business development to help grow their business and their bottom-line! 
  • Every startup will be provided with a customised funding, coaching, mentoring, health & well-being and education & training program; focused on making sure our portfolio companies will be able to accelerate their business growth and will go through a rapid transformational change process, resulting in long term personal and business success!
  • We provide our support, coaching, mentoring and education on a long-term basis: till we exit our portfolio companies via a trade sale or IPO, no matter if that takes 1, 3, 5+ years!

Our Mantra:

Growing startups and early-stage tech ventures in Asia Pacific!

Our Vision:

Seed Accelerator™ is Asia Pacific’s premier technology startup & business accelerator, facilitating the commercialisation of innovative ideas by turning them into exceptional and sustainable global businesses and turning their founders into leading entrepreneurs and company directors.

Our Mission:

To commercialise innovative technology startups through world-class infrastructure, business coaching, mentoring, education, skills development, seed funding and access to strategic networks and partnerships.

Our IBAECS Principles

The Seed Accelerator™ acronym that encompasses our organisation’s campaign is to Inspire, Build, Accelerate, Educate, and Communicate & Support (IBAECS).

  • Inspire: Though times are challenging, especially in a start-up phase and particularly in Australia and Singapore where we often still lack startup funding and support. Therefore we will inspire startups entrepreneurs from Australia, Singapore and around the globe to follow their dream, to believe in their skills, to focus their energy, commit to their plan of action and to apply for our program, which will allow them to overcome obstacles and achieve success faster and better!
  • Build: We will provide the entrepreneurs will all the advice, tools, processes and resources they will need to rapidly turn their idea into a winning and unique new product or service.
  • Accelerate: The third component of the IBACECS principle consists of our mission to help accelerate the commercialisation of emerging technology companies. We help educate entrepreneurs and provide coaching and hands-on mentoring on how to build and grow a business to achieve maximum success and to contribute to overall global economic expansion and increased opportunity.
  • Educate: Seed Accelerator seeks to educate entrepreneurs on how to run successful businesses, how to improve their individual performance and how to increase their quality of life. Our unique education program (GrowthVersity™) is also focused on turning the entrepreneurs into leading entrepreneurs by helping them to improve and develop crucial skills, which are required to achieve long-term success. We will also educate the Australasian community on the enormous potential and opportunity of technology startups in Sydney and Singapore.
  • Communicate: Seed Accelerator has a commitment to communicate with the larger Australasian and global population about what is going on in the world of technology and commercialisation. The Seed Accelerator organisation will seek to facilitate information exchange within the eco-system it will build and to share news of these exciting innovations, expansions, and diverse opportunities with the cities of Sydney & Singapore and the world.
  • Support: We will provide all entrepreneurs on our programs with on-going support, which means they will be provided with continued coaching, mentoring and training for as long as we are an equity stakeholder in their business. We will also support our local and the wider Australian and Asian tech startup community, by providing them with inspiration, information, networking and events to support the startup ecosystem we are building and enhancing.

Seed Accelerator™ Investment Model

We will make small investments (rarely more than $15,000 to $30,000 per startup) and will provide support and various services valued at over $350,000 per startup in return for small stakes in the companies we fund. In exchange for our unique Startup Seed Accelerator™ program, seed funding, advice, training, mentorship, connections, and investor demo days, we will receive a 15%-25% equity stake in the new start-up companies. We will receive “founders stock” which is common stock. We want to be thought of as an experienced and well connected co-founder so we will have the same risk and reward system that our start-up entrepreneurs do. Their success is our success!

Seed Accelerator™ Investment Focus

We will select people with a compelling and unique idea to startup a new technology business with a global focus: web applications, mobile applications and software. We’re looking to invest in entrepreneurial teams with big ideas and a need for seed capital and dedicated support to turn their ideas into great companies. We are willing to invest in unproven teams attacking unproven markets with unproven solutions. We love creating ‘blue oceans’ and helping you to make the impossible possible!

Differences Between a Business Incubator and a Seed or Startup Accelerator

Where these models differ is largely in how much equity they take in the participating companies, and how each model makes money. You'll find commentary from a lot of venture capitalists and others today saying that conventional business incubators have a bad name in the new age of bootstrapped tech startups. We see a conventional incubator as basically a program run by a business development organization, chamber of commerce, or as a for-profit entity. They're pay-for-space programs that basically toss a bunch of early-stage companies into a building, charge pretty high rates for rent, and may have some kind of business services available.

Business incubators generally do not take equity in their start-ups, whereas so called seed accelerators,  startup accelerators or micro seed accelerators generally do take equity in their startups. While the incubators are typically run as non-profits and charge startups for rent/facilities/services, start-up and business accelerators are typically run as for-profit ventures and provide entrepreneurs with startup funding and all kinds of pro-active support to help them succeed on the longer-term. This is a dramatic difference in business model, and is why seed/startup/business accelerators can be seen as such a break from past models. The startup & business accelerator’s incentives are directly aligned with their start-ups; only when a start-up succeeds will the business accelerator business model be financially viable. Finally, a start-up or business accelerator is not reliant on funding from government sources, which is quoted as one of the top value-adds from incubators.

What can we offer that others cannot?

We are the first start-up seed accelerator in the Asia Pacific region and we focus on providing excellence in two areas:

  1. Accelerating the development and growth of exceptional tech ventures to turn them into global market leaders;
  2. Accelerating the development of the entrepreneurs behind the business, by turning them into leading company directors who can take on the world.

Unlike the established incubators, business accelerators and VC’s, we are offering seed funding, exceptional facilities, support, coaching, the best mentoring, rapid product development, 1-on-1 personal development, training & education, teambuilding and long-term support to help the companies we invest in to succeed better and faster. We offer various programs, which besides investing in the startups and turning their ideas into successful companies, will provide a complete training program which is focused on turning the people behind the idea into healthy leading entrepreneurs. We are also different because we are the only one offering long-term coaching, mentoring and training, make our startups part of a global eco-system and we have a global focus, which translates into providing support from business partners and investors from around the globe. The success of our portfolio companies is our success, so we will do everything in our power to help them succeed on the short- and ling-term!

Seed Accelerator™ Benefits - Startup Seed Program

Why would start-up entrepreneurs like to participate in our Startup Seed Program? Some of key reasons why start-up entrepreneurs would like to participate in one of our Seed Accelerator™ programs might be because:

  1. They will receive financial support and initial funding: Seed Accelerator™ will aim to provide enough financial assistance that founders can live for the 4-month term of the program without any other job or financial assistance. We will provide start-up teams with funding in the range of $15.000 - $30.000 per startup, which should be sufficient enough to pay for their cost of living and allows the entrepreneurs to fully focus on their new business venture.
  2. They will receive the best available product support: Seed Accelerator™ will provide the start-ups with hands-on advice on building the best product they can by utilising a pool of experiences entrepreneurs, product development experts and innovation experts.
  3. They will receive on-going business support: The Seed Accelerator™ programs will be very helpful to emerging and well-established entrepreneurs, as we will help them to avoid unprincipled investors, contractors and others to take advantage of their naivety.  We will also help them to prevent making early business mistakes that could be very costly to their company or wealth in the long-term. Additionally our guest speakers, mentors and educational program will talk founders through the common problems and issues they will need to consider as their company grows and seeks future funding. In addition to legal and financial issues, there are issues around hiring, public relations, marketing, pricing strategy, and many others, which are all covered within our business support program.
  4. They will receive the best educational program: Based on individual and team assessments, Seed Accelerator™ will provide a customised education program, which is focused on turning the start-up entrepreneurs into leading entrepreneurs. We will provide general advice applicable to everyone, and specific advice applicable to a single start-up. The general advice is the advice that all start-ups need to understand; how to run a company, how to raise additional funding, the legal complications of startups, how to find and hire new employees, how to successfully lead a rapidly expanding team of people, how to improve productivity, how to manage your overseas operations, etc. The specific advice is typically product-focused: why would customers use a specific product, how to charge for a product or service, etc. Our education program will be provided by a combination of in-class room training, online training, coaching and mentoring and includes a broad range of topics, focused on minimising risk of failure and increasing strengths and skills on both an individual and team level.
  5. Seed Accelerator™ brand connection: The credibility that comes from being a Seed Accelerator sponsored company. As we will be positioning Seed Accelerator™ as the leading seed fund accelerator provider within the Asia Pacific region, we will be building a strong brand which will also articulate the value of our compelling startup & business accelerator programs. The value for the program participants will rest in a permanent connection with Seed Accelerator™, which includes identity and affiliation, our alumni network and sense of community. Our brand will be established primarily through our success and how we distinguish ourselves from our competitors from around the globe. Our brand building campaign will not only rely on printed, online and social media; we will also organise various compelling events for start-up entrepreneurs and angel investors and we will build a strong eco-system (community), which will all positively contribute to our brand.
  6. Seed Accelerator™ provides connections to future capital: One of the most important success factors to long-term success of the companies funded by Seed Accelerator™ is through connections to investors. To raise capital and arrange exits or expansions, we work together with angel investors, VC's, fund managers, private equity firms, large corporates, multinationals and technology firms from around the globe. While our program ensures that the first product is successfully developed and pitched, many of our start-up companies will require some level of additional capital to continue their operations beyond our 4-month program. Seed Accelerator™ will host various weekly meetings with entrepreneurs, mentors and investors, which will provide a rich structured source of contacts throughout the program. The close relationships with a broad selection of mentors will help the Seed Accelerator™ start-up companies in their fundraising. In week 14 of the program all start-ups will pitch to a forum of pre-selected investors on Demo Days in Sydney, Singapore and Silicon Valley. At these Demo Days angel investors and early-stage venture capital firms can evaluate our start-up companies and we will facilitate and manage the process for securing additional funding. Seed Accelerator™ will also leverage expertise from a large pool of entrepreneurs, advisors, specialists, mentors and coaches from around the globe. We will also leverage our global alliance networks and our personal networks to make sure the startup companies will be able to build relationships with the best available investors. 
  7. Seed Accelerator™ provides an innovative and inspiring start-up community: Our facilities are all focused on building an innovative and collaborative community for start-up entrepreneurs, which includes facilities like: compelling office space, video conference rooms, an innovation room, a library with hundreds of books, a complete e-games room, a well equipped music room, a fitness & health room, a kitchen for group cooking sessions, a lounge room, etc. All focused on a high performance, innovative, inspirational, supportive and social culture in which people help each other to succeed. Once the in-house start-ups have completed their 4-month Seed Accelerator™ program, all companies and their teams will become part of our Alumni Program, which provides them with (mandatory) on-going training, coaching and mentoring focused on establishing long-term success.

  8. Seed Accelerator™ is located in the best location(s) to start a new technology company: For many start-ups Sydney (and in a later stage Singapore) will be the ideal place to startup a new technology business for various reasons. There are a large number of engineers and engineering graduates available, the cost for developers and designers is relatively low compared to US and Europe, cost for IP protection is relatively low, infrastructure is good, the climate and environment are clean, various leading universities have a Sydney campus, R&D organisations like CSIRO and NICTA have a Sydney base, all leading international technology companies are based in Sydney, most technology start-ups are based in Sydney, there’s a substantial start-up community in Sydney and Australia and Sydney have a positive brand awareness around the globe.

What is different to other startup accelerators like Y Combinator, Techstars and Seedcamp?

  • Seed Accelerator focuses on the start-up entrepreneurs AND their business ideas. Besides rapidly turning start-up ideas into a fundable and sustainable business, we take the high-potential individuals behind the idea and educate, coach and mentor them to become a disciplined company founder, an all-round entrepreneur and a successful business leader who can take on the world;
  • Instead of primarily focusing on start-ups, we focus on accelerating the (global) growth of startups, and early-stage tech ventures and later-stage tech ventures;
  • We have taken the best ingredients we could find in the global market space: we've mixed the success factors from various leading seed-fund accelerators, successful incubators, entrepreneurial VC's, innovative corporates and combined them with the lessons learned from many leading entrepreneurs and business leaders. The outcome is a model which is focused on minimising risks and maximising success;
  • We are first to market in Australia and the Asia Pacific region and will only focus on this region. Sydney - Singapore - Shanghai are our target base locations;
  • We also offer a program for exceptional teams without a unique business idea: our Idea Seed Program;
  • We have developed the Seed Accelerator business model based on researched risks and success factors, resulting in the most complete, detailed and lowest-risk business model in the market;
  • We offer the best to the best: we focus on selecting the best startup entrepreneurs from around the world, using a thorough selection process, which also utilises science based selection assessments and processes;
  • We will host our programs out of Sydney and Singapore; both cities and excellent locations to startup a new technology business because of the low cost, established support networks, wide range of business and technology universities, presence of large technology providers and global corporations, availability of skilled resources, sunny and warm (beach) climate and easy access to Asia and Greater China.

What are other considerations for tech startups to join Seed Accelerator™?

Not every startup will be sold to Google, IBM, Apple or Microsoft; in fact it's a tiny percentage that will be acquired, and even smaller which will IPO. The harsh reality is that most FAIL! Can you get lucky and hit on something that makes money? Sure. But once you find yourself talking to Angels or VC firms, how will you defend your valuation? Once you have the funding, how will you find and hire the best people? How do you mitigate most risks on your path to success? How will you accelerate your global growth faster than anyone else? How will you win the race against similar teams trying to do and achieve the same kind of thing? How will you succeed faster & better in each and every way; in life and in business? Who will help you from start till beyond the finish line?

What Seed Accelerator™ isn’t - the misconceptions.

  • Don’t look at just the money: look at the team, partnerships, mentors, global network, and the network of investors around the Seed Accelerator programs, not just valuation.
  • It's only for early stage startups that just have started: nope! We select and invest in both early stage startups and emerging startups that have been in business less than 5 years.
  • It’s myth that our programs are only for young people: the median age is about 28,5.
  • We only help teams to succeed: not true! We do mentor various startup founders who are on their own, we provide co-working office space to individuals, and for our programs our selection board is willing and able to select single founders with a great idea - though teams have a bigger change to be selected.
  • People need to value the Seed Accelerator alumni network more: it provides long-term value & benefits. For example; their startup can fail and they could hop to another successful startup.

More information about what we do, for who we do it and how we do it.

  • For an overview of our PROGRAMS, please click here.

  • For details about the TEAM behind Seed Accelerator™, please click here.

  • For our history and JOURNEY, please click here.

  • For the latest Seed Accelerator NEWS updates, please click here.

  • For our complete EVENTS agenda, please here.

  • For an introduction to some of our strategic PARTNERS, please click here.

  • For a brief overview of some of our PORTFOLIO companies, please click here.

  • For ADVISE for any startup or tech venture hoping to get chosen for our Seed Accelerator™ program, please click here.

  • For an overview of our SELECTION CRITERIA, please click here.

  • For information on how to APPLY for any Seed Accelerator™ program, please click here.

  • For an overview of our recommended BOOKS for startup entrepreneurs, please click here.

  • For our selection of STARTUP RESOURCES, BLOGS and TOOLS, please click here.

  • For our selection of VIDEOS about startups, leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship, please click here.

  • For our selection of inspiring QUOTES and ADVICE for entrepreneurs, please click here.

  • For information about the exceptional not-for-profit CHARITIES we support, please click here.

  • For an overview of the investment options we offer INVESTORS, please click here.

  • For JOBS and details on how you can JOIN our team, programs or portfolio companies, please click here.

  • For a broad and detailed overview of the most common QUESTIONS about Seed Accelerator™, please click here.

 

For more detailed information and answers to most of your Seed Accelerator™ related questions, please see our FAQ page.