Good practice:

Cybersecurity Ventures. Acceleration Program Castilla y León

The acceleration programme develops activities common to the projects participating and specific to each.These activities are structured as follows:
-Customized Roadmap: Joint definition of the company’s Roadmap to establish the acceleration plan. Creation milestones to be achieved
-Mentoring: Guidance to develop the business idea together with a lead mentor.This includes presentation of success stories and inspiring conferences by people of international relevance
-Training:Develop skills and competences in business, the entrepreneurial ecosystem and personal skills
-Networking with investors and entrepreneurs: Events/meetings to recruit new talent
-Demo day: Entrepreneurs who have participated in the acceleration programme will present their projects
Objectives of the Acceleration Program:
-Encourage the development of new technology-based companies in the field of cybersecurity
-Support entrepreneurial talent in the development of their business projects in cybersecurity through training, mentoring and networking with investors and entrepreneurial talent
-Contribute to deployment of cybersecurity strategy, linking it with cybersecurity challenges contemplated in the Programme
-Complement the offer of activities promoted by INCIBE
The applications received are evaluated by an independent evaluation committee.The 10 best projects are selected
The beneficiaries are newly established SMEs (start-ups with less than 5 years old) specialized in cybersecurity

-The acceleration program is endowed with a budget of 120,000 € in cash prizes (ICE Budget).
- Hiring Experts: 300.000€
- Two person-month from ICE
The panel of experts evaluating the projects is formed by Investors, leading companies, start-ups and public organizations: ICE, INCIBE and ILDEFE.

This acceleration program encourages the development of new technology-based companies in the field of cybersecurity and support entrepreneurial talent in the maturation of their business projects.
Last edition results (2017-18):
 76 business ideas applied
 36 analysed projects
 10 accelerated companies
3 out of 10 accelerated companies settled in Castilla y León and 1 in the process

Difficulties enc.
Financing of the first phases of the projects
Lessons learned
Need for specialization in Cybersecurity. Through business incubation projects and acceleration programs
Generating a specialized ecosystem to support the generation of new projects and attracting specialized capital

The program can be replicated in any geographic area or regulatory framework with a regional or national public structure that allows the financing of projects through public funds or grants, and a reference entity in Cybersecurity that allows the program to be coordinated, as well as the possibility of organizing training sessions, workshops, networks, forums and other activities related to the promotion of investment in Cybersecurity, while attracting investors, entrepreneurs and specialists in the sector.
The program is 100% replicable in other places and of course for all the members of the Cyber project.
Why is it useful?
- Companies go from ideas to full answers to concrete needs
- Companies get ready to attract investors and clients
Regions attract companies to their ecosystem