The Alpha Accelerator
Huckletree's award winning 12-week in-house accelerator
Who's Alpha for?
For pre-seed founders:
If you have yet to raise their seed round and want to raise at least £350K in the 6 months following the programme start dat? To apply, you must have developed your prototype, and spotted an opportunity that has the potential to scale globally, with the data points and early traction to back it up.
For diverse, under-represented founders:
We look at diversity from all angles, including but not limited to - gender, race, nationality, age, education and disability. We recognise that not everyone has equal access to capital, network and resources, and are determined to drive change in the tech sector and walk our talk.
Selection and Eligibility
Team
At least one underrepresented founder as part of the C Suite/founding team (Gender, BAME, LGBTQ+, non-higher educated, retired, neurodiverse and beyond).
Sector
Each year we choose a different theme. Alpha10 will be announced shortly.
Product
A beta/MVP version of your product, preferably an early version available for early adopters.
Traction
Evidence of early traction/customer uptake or potential for growth (i.e. early users, pilot users, waitlist, early interest, social following etc).
Commitment
The programme runs over Tuesday and Thursday morning for 12 weeks; Alphas commit to the full programme, including weekly stand-ups, 121s, workshops and pitch practices.
Fundraising
Teams are bootstrapped or have raised a friends and family round. We do not accept teams who have already raised significant levels of investment.
The Alpha Accelerator includes:
- Weekly workshops led by industry experts
- Essential concept feedback from our community of early adopters
- A refined commercial strategy with defined revenue streams
- Fundraising fundamentals including how to build a strong pitch deck with clear financials
- Weekly pitch practice with leading investors, plus the experience of live pitching to relevant industry investors at Alpha Pitch Day
- Exposure and introductions to our network of talent, partners and investors
- Regular group standups, plus 1-1 consultations to keep you on track and accountable
No cost. Zero equity taken.
We’d had enough of accelerators taking large chunks of founder equity and charging huge sums for access. Pre-seed founders don’t have cash to spare and they definitely shouldn’t need to part with their most valuable asset - their equity - so early on. Huckletree Alpha is completely free of charge for the selected startups. We don’t charge fees, and we don’t take equity. Ever.
Love from our grads
“Our time on the Alpha programme in 2021 was fundamental. We ran our pilot at Huckletree Shoreditch, which gave Junee a real springboard. As a result of the programme, we have gone on to raise £250k in investment and £90k in grants. Without this investment, we would never have been able to scale the company from the two of us to a team of eight specialists.”
Caroline Williams, CEO and Co-Founder of Junee
“Our time on Alpha in 2022 was fantastic, we felt welcomed like Huckletree team members and the support we received went above and beyond our expectations. The Huckletree team and founder cohort were incredibly supportive and we have created thriving personal and business relationships which have only grown stronger one year on. As a result of the programme, we have gone on to raise £825k in investment to help us bring our range of carbon-negative building materials made from waste and fungi to market.”
Valentina Dipietro, Co-Founder of Mykor
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