Get Started Programme

You have an innovative and scalable idea that you would like to turn into a reality, but you have little to no experience in building a business.

Most importantly, you want to work hard to get your business off the ground and have the ambition to conquer the world!

An exciting environment with experienced entrepreneurs and starting entrepreneurs, all with an extreme amount of energy. Next to that you get:

• Feedback on your innovative idea, does it need tweaking, how do you sell it and who is it for?
• A workplace among 50+ other innovative startups
• Become part of an amazing network of entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals
• Access to our MyECE online learning environment, with a curriculum filled with the latest insights for startups and entrepreneurs

The costs for participating in the Get Started programme are €625,- excl VAT per person. We run a €325 scholarship for entrepreneurial students.

Every business idea is unique, but in the process of starting a company the same challenges always return. The Get Started programme is designed around this principle.

What you discuss with coaches during your 4 coaching sessions is based on your input. During these sessions, you and the other participants pitch your progress to our coaches and tell them the challenges you are currently facing. Based on your specific questions, you will sit down with multiple coaches to help you tackle those challenges. At the end of every session, you tell the group your goals for next session based on what you learned that day. As a group, we hold each other accountable for those goals and push each other to go as fast as possible.

To specifically address some recurring challenges, we’ve gathered the latest insights in one place. Between your sessions you can use our online learning platform, MyECE, to learn more about specific topics, such as customer validation, finance, or prototyping.

The coaching sessions always take place on the 1st Friday and 3rd Friday of the month from 14:00 – 17:00 at the ECE Campus.

“The Get Started programme sucked me into entrepreneurship, gave me lots of inspiration and ideas, and introduced me to the importance of scalability.” – Fabian Dudek, Founder of Nestpick

“The strong business focus is a refreshing addition to our own engineering backgrounds; this helped us find the right balance between customer and product development.” – Mighael Vroom & Joost de Bont, Founders of Zest

“We consider the ECE Get Started Programme and the campus to be just like the Silicon Valley of Rotterdam.” – Najim el Bouchtaoui, Founder of Talentsbook

Past participants include:

1. Sign up through the button below
2. Submit a short application (6 questions)
3. Get invited to pitch your idea to us
4. Get Accepted
5. Get Started

Check the website for the dates of the next programme!