🚀 Check out this insightful Media Marketing interview with our CEO and founder Lode Uytterschaut, where he shares how we've become the leading accelerator in Belgium and our journey towards creating an inclusive, diverse, and sustainable startup ecosystem. 🌍💡
A few weeks ago, Start it @KBC celebrated its tenth anniversary and the start-ups within the accelerator rounded the milestone of 1 billion euros in raised funding. This undoubtedly makes it the country's largest accelerator for start-ups, good for around 150 selected files per year, of which more than two-thirds survive the first five years. What makes it particularly distinctive is its pioneering role in the field of diversity, sustainability and inclusivity, with special attention to women in tech. We were therefore very happy that founder Lode Uytterschaut agreed to an interview.
For whom do you come from Venus or Mars, Lode, what exactly do you and Start it @KBC do?
Together with Katrien Dewijngaert and Patrick Van Loij, I founded the platform ten years ago, when I was working on the digital strategy at KBC and had to conclude that there was very little support for start-ups in Belgium. We started in Antwerp and grew very quickly. For the past three years, we have also been active in Wallonia and Brussels. And we have hubs in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Today, Start it @KBC is the largest start-up accelerator in Belgium (and in Europe, if you look at the number of coached start-ups: 1360 in Belgium, 1600 in Europe, good for 11,450 jobs).
With Start it @KBC we are looking for companies that are engaged in scalable innovation, that is what distinguishes starters from start-ups. We focus on those that can scale exponentially. What also distinguishes us is that we do not take shares in the start-ups that we support. Nor do we impose commercial conditions, which lowers the threshold.Â
Are candidates supposed to become a KBC customerafter participating in the accelerator ? No. Not with any of our partners, by the way. If you are selected as a start-up for our accelerator, you will forever be part of our 100% no strings attached and founder-centric community. KBC is the main sponsor, but not with the intention of winning souls: you do not have to be or become a customer. KBC will be there as a financial partner – in the broadest sense – if necessary. So we do not take shares in our start-ups. We do help them find the best investors: that is much more important in our opinion. You not only need money, but also a network and an address book. Our figures show that it works. In general, 51% of the start-ups that were funded still exist after five years. With us, that is 73% and the survival rate after ten years is 64%. For KBC, the accelerator is more a form of 'doing good for society', and making a substantial difference in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation. That ties in with their DNA, KBC was founded by entrepreneurs themselves. Noble.Â
What criteria do the participating start-ups have to meet to have a chance?
The sector does not matter, but several activities are excluded (no polluting or harmful industries). Candidates must come up with projects that are new or innovative for Belgium. We also look at the founders and their capacity to get the project off the ground. The project must be scalable.
In addition, we also attach importance to the impact on society. For example, we pay attention to diversity, including a focus on the number of women in tech, something that received far too little attention in the past and in fact still does. 38% of our candidates today have at least one female founder, which brings the average over the 10 years to 30%. But of course diversity is also about age – the average age of the founders is 33, so they are certainly not all youngsters who have just left school – and other backgrounds or nationalities, so we also examine these aspects.
Over the past three years, we have also paid increasing attention to sustainability. For example, we specifically ask the start-ups we select which SDG they are active on.
How does such a selection procedure work?
The process is standardized. For each edition – there are two per year – around 500 start-ups apply. Candidates must start by completing an exhaustive questionnaire of 35 questions, some of which require an extensive answer. That is already the first selection criterion. Eventually, around 300 will submit their dossier.
These complete dossiers are read by my team: they select around 150 per round and they are invited for a live pitch. We organize two jury days, with five simultaneous juries per day. Candidates come to pitch their project for three minutes and without slides, then they answer the jury's questions for ten minutes, followed by five minutes of deliberation. Very intensive, but those days provide a great energy boost with all those new ideas.
Ultimately, we select around 75 start-ups per six months. And around 70 per year abroad.
What can the laureates expect?
For a year, they can work in a co-working space at eight locations in Belgium and they will be assigned an experienced business coach. This coach will guide them in making the right choices at the right time during a biweekly follow-up of a few hours. They will also be assigned a mentor and will be asked to participate in the activities of our academy: a number of workshops that we believe our laureates should follow (legal, marketing, sales, financing, etc.). This is a moment where they get to know each other. There are also networking moments per location (with the current and previous laureates). This creates a very extensive network.
If you had to tell a success story, which of your projects would come to mind?
There are so many. Many of our start-ups are B2B activities, so perhaps not so well-known. In terms of fundraising, Keyrock and its software for crypto trading platforms is a nice story. And, in a more well-known register, you have Loop Earplugs, Wondr or Ritchie.
What advice would you give candidates?
Make sure you can demonstrate that there is a problem for your solution. It is better to pitch the problem and then show how you solve it: the jury will definitely be interested in that. Also define a niche where the problem is the biggest. If you can then also demonstrate that it is good for people, society and the environment, it is absolutely perfect.
When is the next round?
We have only had one: the results will be announced soon. The next one is planned for March. In the marketing sector, Start it @KBC supports Accurat , Ittention , Fan Arena  and Lilicast, among othersÂ