The Alpha Programme is an in-house accelerator developed to support early-stage, underrepresented founders. Supporting first-time entrepreneurs on the critical first steps of their journey is at the heart of the program’s mission. Huckletree believe that with the right network, support, and guidance, entrepreneurs can launch with greater speed, intensity, and ambition. The program is pro-bono (there is no equity taken, no charge for workspace, and no fees for the selected startups to participate in the program). By nurturing and exposing under-represented founders to their wide network, they aim to close the funding gap for overlooked founders and address investor biases. Alpha’s 55 graduate companies have collectively raised over £36M. There have also been notable exits, and over 250 jobs have been created. In 2020 Alpha was named one of Crunchbase’s Top 100 Accelerators in the world.
Accelerator Strategy Overview
STARTUPS ELIGIBLE FOR ACCELERATION PROGRAM
Geography: UK & Ireland
Preferred industries: Specific theme for each cohort
Company stage: Pre-seed, planning to raise a first institutional round of funding within six months of program end
Product stage: MVP/beta
Product type: B2B or B2C
Revenues: Not essential, but evidence of early traction customer uptake or potential for growth (i.e. early users, pilot users, waitlist, early interest, social following etc)
PROGRAM DETAILS
Duration: 12 weeks
Participation fee: No
Equity Investment: No
Grant: No
No of batches per year: One program annually
No of startups in a cohort: 6
Q&A with Sarah Warr
What are the 5 most important things you look for in a startup applying to your program?
- Team: Firstly, they must have at least one underrepresented founder (Gender, Minority background, Economic, Neurodiverse, Disability, Education) as part of the founding team and be based within the UK or Ireland.
- Sector: Their solution must fit within our accelerator theme. This year for example, our theme was Urban Futures.
- Commitment: The program runs over two mornings for 12 weeks; selected companies must commit to the full program, including weekly stand-ups, 121s, workshops, and pitch practice.
- Collaboration: One of the advantages of Alpha is being part of a small, collaborative cohort. We want every participant to make the most of their place on the program and show a willingness to give back to their fellow participants.
- Fundraising: Either the teams are bootstrapped or have raised a friends and family round. Chosen teams all intend to raise at least £250k Seed round within 6 months of leaving the program.
What startups should take into account before applying to your acceleration program? (e.g. criterias, commitments etc)
They should make sure they meet the criteria mentioned above so that they are a good fit for what we offer.
What are the most valuable skills that selected startups can develop thanks to your program?
The Alpha program is made up of talks, workshops, fireside chats, and pitch practices. Weekly workshops cover founder fundamentals, including topics such as: brand storytelling, product discovery, commercial and marketing strategy, operations and hiring, developing company culture, building diverse and high-performing teams, sales and partnerships strategy and the founder to the CEO journey. The practical workshops are led by industry experts from pioneering companies, which in previous years have included Oatly, Olio, Heist, Deliveroo, Chanel, Oxwash, We Farm, Good Energy, Spotify, Babylon Health, Starling Bank and Octopus Energy, amongst many others.
Each cohort also benefits from weekly pitch practice with investors to hone their pitches and prepare them for the first funding round.
How does your accelerator support portfolio companies during and after the program?
Each company supported by Alpha receives:
- Participation in our 12-week accelerator program
- Weekly one-to-ones with the Huckletree Ecosystem team, providing tailored support, plus access to our community of members, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors
- Real-time feedback from our community and exposure to talent, partners and potential clients
- The program culminates with a Demo Day, allowing our entrepreneurs to form relationships with the UK and Ireland’s most hands-on early-stage venture investors
- Each Alpha company receives complimentary Huckletree membership (up to three team members) for an entire year - enabling them to access support, from industry events, programmes, introductions, exclusive invites and tailored introductions long after the programme ends.
What are the best-performing companies in your portfolio?
We’re proud of the eighty-three underrepresented founders we've supported throughout the integral first few months of their journey. We're proud of what they've achieved and how they're dedicated to making an impact and giving back to the community. Our graduate companies have raised over £36M collectively. There have also been notable exits, and over 250 jobs have been created. Alumni include Easol, HANX, Just Wears, Mammamade and Loveshark, Junee and CityMAAS.
Why, in your opinion, accelerators are becoming more popular nowadays?
Alpha started as a passion project back in 2017 with a mission to support first-time entrepreneurs in the critical early stages of their journey. Any founder reading this will know how hard it is to start a business for the first time and we believed, and still do, that with the right network, support, and guidance, these entrepreneurs could launch with greater speed, intensity, and ambition.
Back then we were one of a small handful of accelerator programmes, whereas now they are a dime a dozen - hugely varied in both purpose and quality. The very best accelerators support founders in a truly meaningful way providing guidance, practical knowledge, expert advice, feedback and insights founders build, test and hone their businesses and ultimately help founders fast track success.
What are the hottest markets you currently look at as an accelerator and where do you see the biggest hype?
We’ve seen the number of ‘sustainable businesses’ sky-rocket; with more Green and Cleantech businesses entering our community due to the growing concern around the lack of action on the climate crisis, and the increasing urgency to develop new tools and technologies to help us fight climate change. This is coupled with a growing sentiment that together we can create change. We believe that business has a pivotal role and responsibility in leading the way to positive change and that every one of us is in the position to help turn the tide. That’s why for the last two years Alpha has focused broadly on sustainability, with this years’ theme focusing on sustainability through an urban lens. We wanted to find and support the startups using their creativity to build new solutions, services and products that are solving these very real problems. Watch this space for our 2023 theme!
