ignite100 'tech accelerator programme' (Newcastle) now open for entries!

[lordlancaster]

For any web/app/software start-ups reading this, I'd like to strongly recommend that you apply for the ignite100 'tech accelerator programme' which has just opened for entries at:

http://ignite100.com/launch.html
(deadline for entries = Sat 30th June 2012)

The programme is open to anyone from around the world, although you will have to re-locate to Newcastle upon Tyne for the first 13 weeks of the programme and then keep your business presence here for at least 12 months.

If you're lucky enough to be one of the 10 chosen teams, each founder (up to 3 per team) will receive £5,000 each (max £15,000 per team) to see them through the initial 13 week programme of co-working, building their product and getting advice from a wide range of local tech heroes and world-class mentors. Provided you hit certain milestones along the way, there's a total of £100,000 venture capital available for each team.

Teams on the programme will also be taken on a US Road Trip, attend SXSW2013 and benefit from office co-working in New York and San Francisco!

I've lived and worked in Newcastle / Gateshead all my life and can tell you that it's a truly fantastic place to be. Life is good up here and there's a vibrant grass-roots tech start-up community up here with lots of collaboration, support and investment too. The Shell LiveWIRE team is based up here and the loft space that the ignite100 programme uses is owned by PNE Group (the organisation that manages LiveWIRE on behalf of Shell) so there's a good chance that you'll meet me and the rest of the team at some point in the programme.

Up for the challenge? Let's go! http://ignite100.com/launch.html

(Read the thread I started about last year's ignite100 programme in July 2011 at http://www.shell-livewire.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26743 plus a great summary of last year's programme from today's The Journal newspaper at: http://bit.ly/ignite100summary).