Mentorship
Receive guidance from experienced mentors in business and technology, and access on-demand mentorship with session experts.
Boosting Digital & AI/ML startups
Boosting Digital & AI/ML startups
About the program
Welcome to Challenger AI, your partner in accelerating AI/ML-powered solutions. Our three-month, equity-free online program is tailored to help you improve your product and business model, find investors and corporate partners, and overcome current challenges. With the support of over 30 experts and 300 hours of coaching, you'll unlock the full potential of your AI. Join us today and take on the challenge!
Key program components:
Workshops with experts
Learn from industry experts in digital, AI/ML, design, business, sales, marketing, and more.
Access to investors
Pitch your solution to representatives from leading international VCs and investors.
Founders experience sharing
Hear successful founders sharing challenges they faced and lessons they learned on a way of developing their solutions.
Connections to corporates
Engage with corporate representatives for feedback and potential partnership opportunities.
Demo Day
Showcase your solution to international investors, corporations, and ecosystem stakeholders.
Timeline
8th of September
Application openApply to the accelerator by submitting an application form via F6S.
22 of November
Applications deadlineMake sure you submit your application by Wednesday, 23:59 CET. Within a week, you will learn whether you are selected to attend the preacceleration bootcamp.
13-14 of December
Preacceleration bootcampYou'll have an opportunity to pitch your solution, participate in the workshops from top-notch trainers and meet industry experts.
January - April
The Acceleration program3 months of accelerating your startups’ growth and product development with ongoing business and tech mentorship, workshops on relevant topics, successful founders’ experience sharing, and networking meetings with investors and corporates.
April 2024
Demo DayPitch your startup to investors, clients, partners, and media at the acceleration program's finale. Win a prize and forge valuable connections to take your enterprise to new heights!
April - June
Post acceleration supportIndividual assistance connecting you to potential investors, corporate partners and programs for further development.
Who we're looking for
International Startup Cohort. Actively looking for startups from all over Europe.
Driven & motivated team. Teams of 3+ motivated members.
Market Potential. Solution with the capacity for growth and scaling.
Development stage. Startups with existing MVP/demo or close to reaching this stage.
Tech Emphasis. Products based on digital or AI/ML technologies, or with clear plans on integrating them.
Funding Focus. Currently raising funding or plan to.
Experts involved
Harri Tallinn
Co-founder of Challenger accelerator, Partner at CIVITTA Estonia
Iurii-Volodymyr Blavt
Co-founder of Challenger accelerator, Partner at CIVITTA Ukraine
Riivo Anton
Founding Partner at Specialist VC; co-founder of CIVITTA
Abi Barrow
Managing Partner at Cambridge Innovation Partners
Liron Freind Saadon
Head of Developer Relations and Alliances at NVIDIA
Claes Radojewski
Inception Program Manager at NVIDIA
Vlad Tislenko
Partner at SMRK VC
Eugenie Wirz
Global Community Manager at Intel Liftoff for Startups
Ryan Metz
Head of Engineering at Intel Liftoff for Startups
Ivan Altsybieiev
Co-CEO & Co-founder of Reface
Tania Yaroshenko
Head of Product at Pawa
Mykola Maksymenko
R&D Advisor at SoftServe, co-founder of Haiqu
Volodymyr Karpiv
Associate R&D Director at SoftServe
Dan Renwick
Pitch coach, Performer, Entreprenur
Anton Waschuk
Director of Innovation and Education and Entrepreneurship at Western NIS Enterprise Fund
Erik Ehasoo
Creative Strategist and Independent Consultant
Vytautas Černiauskas
Startup Mentor at Startup Wise Guys
Raul Liive
Head of Product at Veriff
Yuri Zaremba
Manager Director of AXDRAFT product line at Onit
Oleksandr Komarevych
Acceleration Program Manager at Bocconi for Innovation
Oles Dobosevych
Vice Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at UCU
Liubomyr Bregman
Visiting Lecturer at UCU, Data Science Lead
Yrjö Ojasaar
Investment Partner at Change Ventures
Andrii Sorokhan
Venture Director at UVentures
Andrej Petrus
Chief Investment Officer at ZAKA VC
Jone Vaituleviciute
Managing Partner at FIRSTPICK
Stanislav Ivanov
Founding Partner at Tera VC
Daren Wilson
General Manager at Roche Slovakia
Jakub Sevcech
Head Scalable Analytics Solutions, Swiss Re
Roman Žňava
Legal and Business Development Associate at Sparring
Frequently Asked Questions
Selected teams will go through intensive 3-month acceleration and benefit from tailored 1on1 mentoring with the world-class lead and on-demand mentors, and attend workshops by the top-notch experts in digital, AI/ML, design, business, sales, marketing, investment attraction, etc. The program will also feature networking events for startups to get connections with other startup founders, investors, corporate representatives and other ecosystem players. Startups that are raising or planning to raise funds will benefit the most from our program, specifically from the post-acceleration investment attraction support.
No, teams do not pay for the participation. In addition, it is an “equity free” program. We only get up to 5% of received investment in 12 months after the program.
Yes, all program activities will be held online or with online broadcasting (such as final Demo Day).
To participate in our program, committing from 4 to 6 hours a week is expected to be sufficient. You will have weekly workshops on different topics from product development to raising capital for your startup. Lead mentors will meet with you and your team biweekly to discuss your pressing questions or ambitious ideas and guide you through the acceleration to get the best results. But if you wish to receive more mentoring and guidance, we will help to pair you with on-demand mentors and experts.
Since we are an international program with many startups, experts and partners from many different countries, the program will be run in English. All participants need to have a comfortable language level to be able to engage.
Fill in the application form for Challenger AI at https://challengeraccelerator.com/program/challengerai/. Our application committee will carefully review your answers and assess if your startup and team are a good fit for the program. Within a week you will learn whether you are selected to attend an online pre-acceleration selection bootcamp where we will have about 30 best startup-applicants. Only 10-15 will be selected to participate in the acceleration program.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with your questions at challenger@civitta.com.
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The project is financed by Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the funds of development cooperation and humanitarian aid
