Three months ago, we completed our journey through the Springboard accelerator programme hosted by Octopus Ventures. Without it, we’d never be in the position we are today.
It’s been an invaluable experience, providing us with training and networking opportunities which are already yielding excellent results.
The programme specifically focuses on supporting startups who are working towards a more sustainable future through innovative technology – making CDotBio a perfect fit for this ambitious deeptech accelerator.
We jumped at the chance to make use of:
A 3-month programme dedicated to customer discovery and product-market fit
Joining and learning from a cohort of other exciting and fast-growing startups
Working one-to-one with expert advisors, breaking down, exploring and restructuring key elements of our business plan
Getting access to Octopus’ incredible network of corporates and investors
A transformative programme for tech-led entrepreneurs
On the first day of the programme, we arrived with questions, questions and more questions. By the end, we’d created just as many new questions to answer – and realised what a fantastic result that was for our business.
As a University of Bristol spin-out startup, it was always likely that we’d be particularly strong in technology, while having a bit more work to perfect our business model and its positioning in key markets.
Coming out of the Springboard programme, we can confidently say that work is done. Whether it was re-orienting our product-market fit or discovering a whole new segment of customers, or even redefining our competition, our commercial and business strategy is stronger than ever.
Being supported to have a huge number of conversations with stakeholders, completing tasks and projects every week to drive knowledge generation, and getting bespoke help from specialists where we needed it most, has been a game-changer.
We applied to the programme because we knew we had an embedded academic attitude that needed to be hybridised with a market-first perspective. Now, having done so, we’re thrilled by the potential we see before us.
There’s no doubt that the connections we’ve made, and the realisations we’ve had, will be hugely valuable over the quarters and years to come.
Springing forward into 2024
Big and little wins have been coming thick and fast since our time in the Springboard programme. New conversations, new tactics and new technologies are all developing together, taking us towards the next stage in our rapid growth trajectory.
We’re not expecting to slow down, with other partnerships such as EIT, the Biotope by VIB accelerator, and our con
tinued relationship with Octopus Ventures all providing a wealth of new energy and opportunities.
We can’t recommend the Springboard programme highly enough to other entrepreneurs in the deeptech sector; for technology-led businesses looking to good, an understanding of the market and how to leverage it is key to properly unleashing the positive power of your products on the world.
If you want to talk to us about our experience, or find out more about CDotBio and what we’re working on, feel free to get in touch today.
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