The Bridge for Billions Incubation Programme kicked off in Nitra in March with 9 entrepreneurs and 9 mentors participating.

In March 2023, IN-HABIT launched its Bridge for Billions Incubation Programme in Nitra, which is now well underway. But how was the selection process carried out, who was selected, and what does the programme actually involve?

The Selection Process

Applications for the incubation programme in Nitra were due on Sunday the 19^th of February 2023, with the selection process carried out after this, following the process below:

1. All the entrepreneur and mentor applications were carefully reviewed by the Local Incubation Manager, providing a rating from 1-3 with regard to the following criteria:

For entrepreneurs:

• Can they be considered a social entrepreneur?
• Do they belong to one of the target sectors (art and environment, open-source urban landscapes, cycling, interactive lighting solutions, experimental gardens, ecology, therapy gardens, place-based organic food growing, animal lines, green corridors, community gardens, greenery of existing infrastructure, phytoremediation solutions, nature-based solutions)?
• Does the solution impact the target region of Nitra?
• Are they in the correct stage of business development (incubation)?
• Do they have the correct expectations for the incubation experience?

For mentors:

• Do they have 5+ years of professional experience?
• Are their areas and sectors of expertise aligned with Nitra’s needs?
• Why do they want to become a mentor?
• Do they have previous relevant experience as a mentor or entrepreneur?
• Are they located in the correct time zone and do they speak Slovak?
• Do they have the correct expectations for the incubation experience?

• Once the full ranking of mentors and entrepreneurs was determined, the Bridge for Billions Programme Director performed one last review of all the candidates and gave the final stamp of approval before moving the candidates to the next stage.
• Selected candidates were announced on Wednesday the 22^nd of February 2023.

Matching Entrepreneurs with Mentors

After being selected, candidates were invited to one of two online onboarding sessions: one for entrepreneurs, the other for mentors. In each of these sessions, the Incubation Manager explained all the stages of the programme in detail, how the platform works, and set the expectations for the matching process. After this, the matching officially began.

During the matching process, mentors reviewed the profiles of all the entrepreneurs in the platform and sent out meeting invites to those they found most suited to their expertise. Each mentor was able to send out up to four invites to ensure everyone had a fair chance of finding their perfect match. This meeting process lasted for two weeks, giving everyone time to meet and decide who they would like to work with, after which both mentors and entrepreneurs had to rank their “preferred” match in the platform.

Following this, Bridge for Billions reviewed and analysed all the match information. The final matches were assigned by taking into account the individuals’ ranking preferences along with other data such as sector, area of expertise, and fairness. After being set and peer-reviewed, the pairings were announced.

Challenges Faced

Holidays in the middle of the application process made it difficult to get in touch with possible interested parties and stakeholders. The biggest challenge was finding entrepreneurs in the Nitra region. As social entrepreneurship is not yet very well known, some very eager mentors helped by contacting their networks and improving the way people felt about government and EU support for this type of programme.

The Programme

The Nitra programme is currently in its incubation stage. As such, all the entrepreneurs are meeting with their mentors weekly to discuss and review the content of each module on the platform. A new module is made available approximately every two weeks, giving participants enough time to research, study, and discuss their questions before completing the module and moving on to the next one.

The modules include:

• Value Proposition
• Competitor Map
• Stakeholder Map
• Marketing and Business Model
• Pricing and Sustainability Strategy
• Financial Projections
• Impact Plan
• Growth Plan

Entrepreneurs and mentors will work together within the incubation platform until July-August. During this time, they will receive weekly to monthly updates, networking sessions, content reviews, and opportunities to meet other entrepreneurs, peers, and IN-HABIT partners.

When the end of the incubation stage approaches, Bridge For Billions will evaluate the participants’ performance and progress in order to decide which ones to invite to the exploitation meeting being organised for September.

Businesses and Mentors Involved in the Programme

Businesses:                                                              Corresponding mentors:

hviezdim                                                                   Martin Sýkora

spa•node = online blog guide                     Karolína Bobríková

TOW MEOT o.z.                                                       Henrieta Bělunková

eNDee park                                                             Eva Valová, Ivan Košalko

VERUM Centrum                                                  Milan Fila

Iná Kosť                                                                    Katarina Orszaghova

Silamed                                                                    Ivan Košalko, Vladimír Ledecký

Wise Finance                                                         Martin Sýkora

Kolesopark                                                              Vladimír Hučko

To find out more about the Bridge for Billions Incubation Programme in Nitra, visit this link.