DeFINE Mentoring Programme

Application - Phase 2

Final step before the selection committee!

Welcome to the Phase 2 of the DeFINE Application process

Thanks for your application to the DeFINE Mentoring Programme Round 2.

You have completed the 1st stage of the process with the online form and the eligibility of your project has now been confirmed. Here is the final stage of the selection process: the Powerpoint Presentation.

3 steps left:

  1. Download the Powerpoint Template
  2. Complete it
  3. Upload it on this page before the 10th of June

Both powerpoint document & form will be submitted for evaluation to a Selection Committee including DeFINE’s Advisory Board Members.

Step 1: Download the Powerpoint Template

This presentation condenses the main information of your project and a visual illustration of it. It stands as a very simplified pitch deck of your project that sums up your main assets you already developed in the form.

Please make sure to use this specific template made-to-measure for our Selection Committee which is mandatory. If you have any other advanced pitch deck, you have the possibility to upload it here below in addition to this presentation, but it is not mandatory for our Selection Committee.

Click here or on the image to download the template of Powerpoint Presentation to complete for your project.

Step 2: Complete it

To make it as simple as possible for you, we have prepared a template with questions you just have to fill in. The answers you already shared through the online form will help you a lot.

Moreover, we strongly recommend to watch this video in order to better prepare your answers.

Step 3: Upload here your completed Project Presentation before June 10

Please note that no application will be possible anymore after the 10th of June. In case of problem, please send us an email at contact@define-network.eu

The selection process will be anticipated by a review process, also considering the mentoring capacity of the consortium members with respect to the specific project/needs characterising each SMEs and start-up, and to clarify any details necessary with the applicants. The Selection Committee will assess the chances of project success (during and after Programme) and its exemplarity for the whole European fashion-tech industry. Each member will evaluate each project according to the following criteria, with similar weight for each criterion.

  • Market potential (real need to satisfy, existing demand, no competitive alternative)
  • Scalability and investment potential
  • Human resources potential (competencies, ambition, reliability, vision, dedicated team)
  • Power of exemplarity for the European fashion, tech and fashion-tech communities at large
  • Market research and knowledge achieved (at least partly).

Selections will be announced on the 15th of July, 2020. Once the selections have been made all applicants will receive notification of their status and the rejected applicants will be given some feed-back along with possible advice.

What DeFINE Mentoring Programme will give you

24 hours

Support from a Lead Supervisor

General direction on the development and innovation process
Monitoring performance ensuring proper due diligence
Initial assessment of the start-up’s/SMEs’ needs
Tracking progress
Ensuring additional support if required

40 hours

Bespoke Technical Mentoring

Technical and scientific support to research
Product development
Prototyping and testing
Product-Service System Innovation

8 hours

Business management support

Tailored made business support
IP Mentoring, including half an hour of private legal consultancy with a leading legal firm
Technology transfer and exploitation

8 hours

Investment readiness support

Investment strategies
Identifying the right type of finance and getting investment ready
Preparing to professionally pitch to equity investors at designated investment forums

The selected start-ups and SMEs will have the chance to access relevant facilities and physical spaces (labs and technical resources, equipment, infrastructure, and tools) made available by four leading Fashion, Technology and Design institutions members of the DeFINE Consortium e.g. London College of Fashion’s Digital Learning Labs, CyRIC Business Innovation Centre and Gravity Incubator, CEEI-Burgos Business Incubator, Politecnico LAB-Photo and LAB-Moda Polifactory, FashionInk Smart Textile Prototype Factory, Institut Français de la Mode incubators and Paris La Fabrique Fablab.

In addition to one-to-one mentoring, selected businesses will be able to access the online resources (as webinars and toolkits) to facilitate their business development.

Further benefits are included within the DeFINE Mentoring Programme. The results of the start-ups/SMEs supported by the project will be showcased at industry events and promoted through the online platform and the channels of the partners. Investments forums will be organized for selected Fashion-Tech businesses to pitch their ideas. Mentees will also be linked with a network of accelerators and incubators who can support them also after having taken part into the Bespoke Mentoring Programme.