IKEA Looks to Recruit Israeli Startups for Entrepreneurial Boot Camp
If the idea of Sweden in the winter warms your creative juices and you’re part of an early-stage startup, a new entrepreneurial boot camp sponsored by IKEA may be just your cup of glogg.
IKEA is looking for 10 startups with two to six cofounders or team members to join them in Almhult, Sweden for three months starting in September. While the program is open to startups worldwide, representatives from IKEA will be in Tel Aviv this week to hear pitches.
Those that attend IKEA’s “Head Start” event on Thursday “will have a higher chance of getting selected for the program as they will be able to impress the panel in person,” Pernille Spang Lyndegaard, the marketing lead for IKEA Bootcamp, tells ISRAEL21c.
To run the bootcamp, IKEA is working with Rainmaking, a global cooperative of more than 400 entrepreneurs who run similar innovation programs as well as their own startups across 40 countries.
Selected companies will receive a grant of €20,000 and free coworking space and housing at the IKEA Range & Supply Democratic Design Center. They will get access to IKEA’s prototype shop, test labs and IKEA engineers, creative leaders and value chain experts. Each startup will be assigned a senior IKEA executive as a mentor.
IKEA is not taking any equity but will be “looking for possibilities to co-create with the startups.” After the program, IKEA may become a customer of the startup, license its technology or even invest further.
The IKEA Bootcamp is not focused exclusively on high-tech companies but on startups that can address accessibility, sustainability and affordability, from disruptive technologies and design to sustainability and food innovation.
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