SEC2SV (Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley)

Silicon Valley is waiting for the next generation of EU Unicorns

Top 15 scaleups to be selected for the 2016 SEC2SV 

San Francisco, February 29th 2016 — The time is now. Today Mind the Bridge, in partnership with the European Commission andStartup Europe, announces the opening of the call for the next generation of EU Unicorns to be selected for the second annualSEC2SV (Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley), a weeklong mission that brings together the most promising EU scaleups, corporates, investors, and policy makers in September 2016 in Silicon Valley.

The aim of SEC2SV is to welcome the next class of leading European scaleups, i.e. mature startups ready to take off and exploit the opportunities offered by Silicon Valley and the US market. Interested companies from all over Europe should apply via the f6s scaleup form, open for one and a half months starting from today, after which a committee of leading US and European investors will select only 15 companies admitted to participate in SEC2SV 2016.

Interested scaleups must meet the following minimum eligibility requirements:

• be a European Union-based company
• have an average annualized growth in employees or turnover greater than 20% per annum over a three-year period (with more than 10 employees at the beginning of the 3 year period)
• desire to expand to the U.S. market or already have a presence there.
• be innovative

The selection will be curated with the support of several Silicon Valley-based partner organizations.

In 2015, 14 European companies representing 9 countries were selected to participate in the SEC2SV mission. Cumulatively, these businesses generated more than $60 million in revenue and had over 1,000 employees. Among them were German high-growth companies Shopgate and Entrade, the UK’s Relaeyes and Versarien, Spain’s Job and Talent, Mosaicoon from Italy, France’s TVTY, among many more.

“SEC2SV brought together amazing scaleups and gave a unique glimpse into the near future. I was honored to be part of this group and I can’t wait to see the next!” commented Andrea Anderheggen, founder and CEO of Shopgate (after an exit with Sofort to Klarna) who participated in the 2015 cohort.

“The words of support and gratitude of Andrea and other CEOs have been our best reward” said Marco Marinucci, Mind the Bridge CEO “That’s why we accepted with enthusiasm the opportunity to replicate SEC2SV week this year and possibly to make it even better”.

During SEC2SV 2016, scaleups will have the opportunity to present at European Innovation Day (the opening conference, with 60+ speakers and 800+ attendees) and participate in a tailored program involving mentoring, networking, and meetings with key stakeholders – a dedicated 3-day Scaleup Summit that will involve in-depth roundtables with 30+ Silicon Valley experts on the topics of growth, talent, legal, funding, M&A, policy, and communications. The SEC2SV participants will also be invited to exclusive receptions (EU consulates in San Francisco), and meetings at Silicon Valley institutions (Apple, Airbnb, Andreessen and Horowitz, Silicon Valley Bank, Squire Patton Boggs, to mention some names from 2015 edition).

In 2015, key SEC2SV participants included Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Gunther Oettinger, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Partner Tim Draper,  Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship Julie Hanna, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Chairman Larry Sonsini, UK Chief Technology Officer Liam Maxwell, among others.

About Mind the Bridge
Mind the Bridge is a global organization dedicated to promoting and supporting successful entrepreneurial ecosystems across the world. Through its flagship entrepreneurship education programs, as well as its global matching events, it has facilitated the bridging of the gap from global startup ecosystems to its home in Silicon Valley. In 2014, Mind the Bridge was selected by the European Commission to lead the Startup Europe Partnership, and today the company supports a diverse range of activities spanning three continents.
mindthebridge.com | @mindthebridge

About Startup Europe Partnership 
Established by the European Commission in January 2014 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, SEP is the first pan-European platform dedicated to transforming European startups into scaleups by linking them with global corporations. By participating in the SEP program, global companies can help this process via business partnerships and strategic and venture corporate investments, providing them with access to the best technologies and talents through procurement of services or products, corporate acquisition or “acqui-hiring”. SEP is led by Mind the Bridge Foundation, a global organization based in Europe and United States, with the support of Nesta (the UK’s innovation foundation), Factory (an acceleration program and campus for tech companies of any stage, originating from Berlin), and Bisite Accelerator (Madrid/Salamanca). SEP is a Startup Europe initiative. Partners include Telefónica, Orange, BBVA (Founding), and Telecom Italia, Unipol Group, Microsoft and Enel (SEP Corporate Member), with the institutional support of the European Investment Fund/ European Investment Bank Group, London Stock Exchange Group, Cambridge University, IE Business School and Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society.
http://startupeuropepartnership.eu  | @sep_eu

Startup Europe Partnership/Mind the Bridge Foundation
Serena Orizi – PR and Communication
(+39) 3204205558
sorizi@mindthebridge.org
Julianne Funk – Marketing and Communications
(+44) 07464769066
jfunk@mindthebridge.org