Launching The Third Round of Retail Together With Target

In case you haven’t heard yet – we have officially kicked off our third retail accelerator; this time its even more powerful –

We have teamed up with Target, one of the biggest retailers in the US and been certified by Techstars to deliver this first-of-its-kind retail accelerator.

Scaling successfully requires more than just having a good business concept. How can a tech start-up that has traction and a working product get access to the global wholesale and retail markets?

We have joined forces with Target to make this possible. Building on the success of their close collaboration with Techstars, we have now, partnered to customise our programme content and invest in start-ups in a stage agnostic way.

The METRO Target Retail Accelerator certified by Techstars will take place in both Berlin and Minneapolis, all 10 startups will spend a total of 3 months across the 2 cities. During this time, the start-ups will be coached by experts selected from a pool of hundreds of mentors. They will receive funding of up to 120,000 USD each and receive support from METRO and Target in the areas of piloting, network and industry expertise.

The 14-week programme will begin in early May 2019 and conclude with a Demo Day in Minneapolis in August, at which point the founders will pitch their businesses to the Target, METRO and Techstars leadership, as well as to the local start-up community and potential investors. With the new METRO Target Retail Accelerator certified by Techstars based in USA and Germany, start-ups are provided with unique access to the wholesale and retail industry across continents. This structure will enable start-ups to connect with a global network of experts, investors, customers and accelerator alumni, from both companies and Techstars alike.

“Our 2 companies are teaming up to have a programme with a unique feature: giving access to executives and network of two of the leading global players in wholesale and retail, feedback from start-ups from our previous Accelerator programmes has shown to us how valuable it is to have the opportunity to try out their solutions directly in day-to-day operations and 2 – 2 roll them out if they’re successful. With this joint effort, we’re continuing to develop this added value. We aim to bridge the gap between innovation and implementation by attracting and investing in start-ups which have ‘live’ products and first revenues. Overall, we believe this new programme will contribute to catalyzing the evolution of the wholesale and retail sector.”

– Hansjoerg Sage, Co General Manager of Hospitality Digital, a subsidiary of METRO that runs the wholesaler’s Accelerator programmes.

“Target’s portfolio of accelerator programmes allows us to test a broad set of external innovations that can further differentiate and enhance our guest experience,The partnership with METRO not only extends our reach globally to bring new ideas to Target, but it further helps start-ups understand how to scale.”

– Minsok Pak, Target Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer.

“We look for business models worldwide that can be applied to every segment of the wholesale and retail value chain, from back-end to customer-facing and everything in between, the programme focuses on vital facts for any start-up that wants to prove out a product and gain new streams: investing, piloting and international scaling.”

– Garan Goodman, who recently assumed the position of Managing Director for the METRO Target Retail Accelerator. Goodman is a successful serial entrepreneur and responsible for start-up investments with international companies and many teams which went on to raise multimillion rounds, flip to the US and enjoy exits.

Be a first mover with us:

Applications can be submitted here and will close on February 24th. The programme kicks off in May 2019 and will conclude in August with a Demo Day in Minneapolis to showcase each startup’s progress.