Envolve ΧL
The Accelerator
Our flagship program
From a fossil fuel economy to a transformative innovation economy.
We are on a mission for change. We are searching for 100 catalysts in 5 years.
Thematic Impact
Digital Transformation
Sustainable Development
From Idea to Investments,
We Accelerate Founders.
A new holistic program for early-stage startups based in Greece or Greek-founded startups worldwide for the digital & sustainable transformation of the economy.
20 startups will participate in a 4-month acceleration program, where Envolve and its first-in-class group of experts take early-stage ventures to growth stage, through the provision of targeted training, founders’ networking activities, inspirational talks, funding, PoC initiatives, demo days, bonding activities, marketplace, and press exposure, investments, resulting in investment ready businesses.
We are scaling the impact and capitalizing on our 12-year legacy, working tirelessly with dozens of thousands entrepreneurs and with over 55 organizations in Europe and the U.S.A.
Applications for EnvolveXL’s 2nd cycle are now open!
Submit your application by February 7th, 2025.
from idea to investments
Program Structure
2-week
Bootcamp
Idea/Product Validation
Main
Acceleration
Business Validation
Investment Readinesss
Market Validation & 65,000€ investments
Investing
for Good
Up to 200,000€ investments
Teams gain targeted acceleration, training and consulting to become Product, Market and Investment Ready. They also receive mentoring, advisory board services, perks discounts & pro-bono services by the extensive network of Envolve Supporters. They also have access to Proof-of-Concept activities, monthly founders network dinners and startup delegations at investors days, conferences and roadshows. They have a partner that cares about founders and their teams first.
The Bootcamp will take place physically in Athens, while the Main Acceleration will take place in a hybrid mode, based on virtual meetings and trainings.
How it works
Applying & Participating at EnvolveXL:
- Application: Build & Submit your application here by February 7th at 14:00 GMT+2.00.
- Evaluation: The Envolve Team will review all submitted ideas by March 2025.
- Bootcamp: The top 20 teams will join the 2-week Bootcamp (Product Validation).
- Main Acceleration: The top 15 teams will participate in the Main Acceleration phase (Business Validation). For this phase, participants are required to offer 1% of their business.
- Demo Day: A live demo day will host pitching from all teams during Spring 2025.
- Investment Readiness: 5 selected teams will receive market validation and a 12,500€ investment.
- Investing for Good: Up to 3 teams will receive up to 200,000€ investment
Key Dates
Applications Open: 1 November 2023
Applications Close: 10 January 2024 at 14:00 EEST
Cohort Begins: February 2024
Demo Day: Spring 2024
Investments Announced: Summer 2024
from idea to investments
Key Dates
Applications Open:
14 November 2024
Applications Close:
7 February 2025 at 14:00 EEST
Cohort Begins:
March 2025
Demo Day:
Spring 2025
Investments Announced:
Fall 2025
How the accelerator is taking place
The initial week of the program will take place in Athens (exact location to be announced).
Following this, Envolve XL will predominantly function in an online capacity, adhering to Eastern European Time, with intermittent face-to-face gatherings.
Investing for Good
Multiplied value for the ecosystem
We see our startups as a vehicle to do more for the ecosystem. Together, we can multiply our impact leveraging on their success and our collective efforts. With the support of our Founding Sponsor, Libra Philanthropies, we invest in these bright businesses.
By joining the Accelerator, startups give 1% of their venture to the program, a little less than a typical Advisor. This 1% could lead to multiplying benefits for the ecosystem as these companies grow, through their support to Envolve.
But we can do more. With up to 265,000€ in investments we enable founders to grow faster and enforce their investment readiness.
Successful investments will create a cyclical effect of multiplied impact and value to support the ecosystem, staying true to Envolve’s cause.
An investment to do good, re-investing into the ecosystem and to empower new ventures, setting founders at the focal point.
Meet our 1st Cohort
On March 26th, we announced the 20 teams of the first EnvolveXL acceleration program.
Chosen from a pool of highly competitive applicants, these innovative startups represent the vanguard of startup advancement across various industries. These startups come from 9 sectors and 4 countries, with HealthTech and Travel Tech leading the cohort.
The 20 selected teams participated in the Bootcamp stage. Subsequently, 15 teams were handpicked to advance to the main acceleration program.
These 20 teams joined Envolve’s portfolio of supported companies, joining the 37 businesses we have funded and supported through the Envolve Award Greece program, operating in over 20 different sectors.