Data Market Services Accelerator opens its latest call for European start-ups and SMEs

The Data Market Services (DMS Accelerator) has launched its third and final open call to select the most promising European startups and SMEs with the potential to transform the European data market. These data-driven companies will enjoy for 6 months different free services in categories such as fundraising, acceleration, data standards, legal aspects, intellectual property, GDPR, and marketing.

The program, which has been a success in previous editions, has received more than 350 applications from different corners of Europe. In 2021, it will select 50 companies from among all the applications received from February 15 to April 30, through the official application form.

After the application stage, the selected companies will be interviewed by different DMS partners to get to know the companies to identify their needs and offer them a quality service program tailored to their needs.

DMS Accelerator methodology

The DMS Accelerator methodology combines online and offline activities, which means that companies can receive services and mentoring without having to move to other cities or countries. In the last year, DMS Accelerator has been able to adapt its services to the health crisis caused by COVID-19, and has supported entrepreneurs through additional services focused on how to deal with the crisis, offering informative podcasts and interactive sessions with experts: https://www.datamarketservices.eu/dms-in-times-of-covid19/.

Also, the program has encouraged startups to participate in new virtual events with investors, such as the first edition of the DMS Investors Day, to maximize their networking and funding opportunities.

As in previous editions, during the 6-month acceleration program between June and November 2021, the most participatory startups and SMEs will have the opportunity to promote their companies in the best European technology and entrepreneurship-related events (TNW Conference, 4YFN, South Summit, EBDF…) to gain international visibility and to foster interactions with potential partners, customers, and investors.

Finally, those companies interested in the internationalization of their businesses will be able to participate in mobility programs in 4 entrepreneurship hubs in the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, and Romania. *

The program will finish with a final event, the DMS Bootcamp, where the most successful startups will have access to 3 days of networking activities, meetings with DMS partners, individual sessions on legal aspects and GDPR, as well as the possibility to contact investors and present their projects.

The project is led by ZABALA Innovation in charge of the planning and execution of a set of defined services oriented to data SMEs and start‐ups benefiting from the expertise of a diverse set of European partners: 1) accelerators and incubators: Bright Pixel (Portugal), Spherik (Romania), Spinlab (Germany), and The Next Web (The Netherlands); 2) communication agency: Ogilvy (Spain); 3) Universities: Southampton University and King’s College of London; 4) intellectual property and standardization experts: IPTECTOR (Denmark) and W3C (through ERCIM in France).