Yes, if you have a ready solution/product that fits the program criteria, you can apply and our scouting team will assess if you can be invited to the last stage of the program – Growth Accelerator – where the main focus is on cooperation opportunities with LVM and product growth.

Teams coming from outside the LVM ecosystem should meet the following criteria:

• Have a ready-made commercial solution or a minimum viable product (MVP);
• Have a product with a proven technological readiness of production (at least in technological demonstrations or prototypes with TRL6);
• Have a market-ready product (according to the assessment of the applicant and subsequently, LVM) that’s fit for technology transfer projects;
• The product has to connect with an existing LVM product or its production has to be tied with LVM processes. LVm does not work with the research, development, and commercialization of products produced as a result of lumber sawing, peeling, and drilling technologies.
• Make sure the product doesn’t have any intellectual property issues and is compliant with the provisions of the regulatory enactments and good practice regulations for activities of the state capital company.

The final application deadline is November 1, 2021. Early-stage startups should apply by September 24 – as their applications won’t be considered after the Hackathon.

This is an 8-month-long program split into four stages with different time allocation commitments at each stage:

• Each Ideation Workshop will take around 3 to 4 hours, but the startup needs to participate only in one of them.
• Hackathon is a 48 hour long non-stop action from September 29 to October 1.
• Online Pre-acceleration program is an 8-week-long program and startups need to dedicate around 5 hours per week.
• Growth accelerator is 4 to 5 months long with 4-5 active weeks spread throughout this period.

No, the program is free of charge and equity-free. SilvaTech does not provide investments, hence none of the partners take equity from any startup participating in the program.

If the idea/product initially belongs to an external team (external team, startup, researcher, company), it stays an IP of this startup. For LVM teams and mixed teams, this topic is up for discussion on a case-by-case basis.

Ideation Workshops: Filled with insightful Q&A sessions, these online workshops help ideators better define the problem they’re trying to solve, validate their idea and pinpoint potential gaps. You will get to present your idea, find and build a team of fellow collaborators, and get some initial guidance from LVM and SWG mentors.

Hackathon: This is a 3-day online event where you’ll get to develop your idea and work on the prototype. During the hackathon, you will get access to LVM and SWG mentors and field experts who will help to overcome technical challenges and build a surefire business approach. While at this stage teams should already be shaped, you can still employ additional forces.

Pre-accelerator: This is an 8-week online program that covers a range of topics on all things startup development – from identifying your product/market fit to building a viable business model. This program stage ends with a Demo Day – a signature event where you’ll get to present your idea, your MVP to a range of experts who will determine whether your team gets to the last stage of the program. You will need to allocate about 5 hours a week to go through weekly learning materials and assignments, and to join weekly meetings with field experts.

Growth Accelerator: 10 teams will get to this last program stage, which will be run both online and offline. Growth Accelerator will feature various workshops and mentorship on Design Sprint methodology (for market research and product development), team building, and business scaling. Moreover, this is where LVM will start to discuss potential partnership opportunities.