• Huge Thing partners with Visa Foundation to reward the aspiring female founders from Poland and Ukraine
• The Female Fundraising Academy will be the first in a series of initiative on training and assisting female founders
• Applications are accepted until February 11th

Established in 2012 by SpeedUp Group, Huge Thing was one of the first operational acceleration program operators for startups in Poland. Since then, it has been holding on to its mission of supporting the development of the startup ecosystem in the CEE region. Today, besides supporting innovation creators in business development, the Huge Thing team utilizes its expertise to assist organizations from both the private and public sectors in innovation management.

This December, Huge Thing partners with Visa Foundation to launch the Facilitating Female Founders Program, the first edition of its series of initiatives dedicated to training and assisting female founders from Poland and Ukraine.

Eligibility and Roadmap

Aside from originating from Poland or Ukraine, the female founders need to have business experience and, of course, be ready to scale.

Startups are to apply here before February 11th 2024. The organizers will then take another month to make up their minds before announcing the 15 successful applications on March 13th 2024. The program itself will begin on March 18th 2024 with an on-site Hello Day, after which it will run in fully-remote mode for 8 weeks. The program will culminate with the Final Demo Day, the date of which is yet to be announced.

Contents and Benefits

The goal of the program is to provide every participant with valuable guidance and advice from Huge Thing’s and SpeedUp Venture Capital Group’s expansive network of experienced mentors and partners.

More specifically, founders will receive 25 hours of training in fundraising. The course is divided into 3 areas: improving the business model, VC workshops, and creating a ‘go global strategy.’.

Based on the scheduled workshops, every participant will have an opportunity to schedule up to 6 hours of 1×1 consultations with their chosen mentors.

Upon the completion of the program, all participants get invited into the exclusive Female Founders Club, where Huge Thing will offer them extra activities. The Club is also meant to be a space for founders to support each other by sharing their experiences and knowledge.

Networking opportunities represent another benefit as startups get the opportunity to network with other startups, corporates, and venture capitalists, as well as gain valuable insight into the industry.

As Huge Thing is a well-known brand in the CEE startup ecosystem, accelerated startups gain increased visibility and brand awareness from participating in the Program.

For more information, please see the Program’s page and follow Huge Thing’s LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Before applying, please make sure to get familiar with the regulations.

If you have any additional questions regarding the Female Founders Fundraising Academy, make sure to attend the Q&A Webinar on LinkedIn.