During the initial months of each phase, the teams will undergo training, whereas, during the following months, the teams will attend workshops and receive strategic, operational, financing, legal, accounting, marketing and volunteer consulting.
Process
At least once a year, Thinc will announce the number of business groups that can be hosted on the site, as well as the thematic areas of interest for which companies should develop their products or services.
In order to participate and accelerate your idea, you will need to follow 4 simple steps.
Step 1: Expression of Interest
Submit your details, your idea and your business plan to our participation form. Your submission will go through evaluation by an experienced, independent committee and an interview might be scheduled. While completing the form, the applicant will analyze and describe in detail the idea, products or services that the candidate business scheme is going to develop, with emphasis on innovation and differentiation.
Step 2: Application Check
Our team will collect all applications and examine the filled out application form and approve the complete ones. The final evaluation will be carried out by the Evaluation Committee, which consists of highly experienced professionals and academics.
Step 3: Evaluation
The Evaluation Committee conducts a thorough evaluation of the submitted proposal and then a personal interview, according to the incubator’s entry criteria. Based on the above, it decides on the approval or rejection of the application.
Step 4: Become a Thinc-er!
The procedure is finalized when the application of the candidate business group is approved. At this point participants will be informed of the following:
- Responsibilities, obligations and rights of visitors to the Incubator
- Terms of use of countries, other infrastructures and services
Winners will receive a notification of acceptance within X working days after the deadline. Immediately after, the 3-month Entry-level cycle will begin and they will be given work space, online tools, mentoring opportunities and the necessary support to start implementing their business plan.
In case your idea is not approved, we encourage you to try again in the next round.
Timeline
The Incubator will host a total of 24 business groups – companies per year. The provision of hosting services is divided into 3 successive stages.
Stage A: Entry Level (Months 1 to 3)
At this stage, the roles of the team members will be formed, the business terms and practices will be familiarized, as the final configuration of the idea will be implemented.
Stage B: Pre Seed Level (Months 3 to 6)
This stage will act as an accelerator for the beneficiary groups. The ideas of the teams will be matured, the networking as well as a market research will take place.
Stage C: Seed Level (Months 6 to 9)
At this stage, the creation of the company, the securing of its copyrights, as well as the beginning of the search for financing from potential investors will be implemented.
Stage D: Exit of beneficiary companies from the Business Incubator
The main goal of the Business Incubator is the proper preparation of the business teams and their entry into the market.
Incubator Timeline
Total duration: 1 Year
Year 1
Criteria
Thinc’s evaluation process is based on meritocracy and objective tools and criteria.
A. On/off criteria
Candidate business groups must:
- Consist of 2 to 5 individuals
- Submit a fully completed participation form
B. Business Plan
C. Business Group
D. Implementation Plan
E. Interview
Eligibility
Thinc is open to all active, in terms of working capacity, population despite of race, colour, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status or sexual orientation.
In indicative terms, eligible groups for application are:
- Students and graduates of the departments of the Democritus University of Thrace, as well as other educational institutions in the country which are interested in being active in the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
- Private and Public sector employees who wish to create their own business or participate in a collaborative group.
- Unemployed individuals as well as members of socially vulnerable groups of the Region, who own a remarkable and innovative business idea.
- Group of individuals who have the desire to seek support, services, coaching and mentoring from the incubator faculty and staff
Thinc’s focus extends across several divisions and areas.
In addition to the above groups, it is emphasized that any citizen or group of citizens, who wishes to be active in the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, has the right to access the services of the Business Incubator of DUTH, regardless of economic, social, demographic and other features. The integration of an interested party or a group of interested parties is evaluated on a zero basis taking into account the above criteria, documenting the open nature of the structure and the free access of all interested parties.
The overall operation of the Business Incubator, the individual actions, the services provided as well as the evaluation criteria of the joining business groups have been designed after an analysis of the business environment, the RIS3 Regional Strategy, the RIS3 National Strategy as well as data from other studies. (industry data, sectors that attract young entrepreneurs, export activities, etc.). The common denominator of all these elements is the aim of creating sustainable business activities that will be able to develop a strong competitive advantage and utilize the available resources, themselves or provided by the incubator, in order to consolidate them in the regional, national or international market.
Taking the aforementioned into consideration, the sectors, that the companies operating inside the incubator focus on, which have been selected as a matter of priority, although not restrictively, are the following:
- Implementation of innovation in the field of Agri-Food
- Information and communication technologies in various branches of economic activity
- Energy Saving – Applications of integrated systems to reduce the energy footprint of businesses and urban facilities.
- Environment and sustainable development
- Transport – Logistics
- Materials – constructions
- Tourism – Culture – Creative industries
All you need to accelerate your ideas!