The first Israeli start-up has joined Europe's prestigious incubator program, Startupbootcamp, which operates three boot camps for early-stage companies. Fanarchy Ltd. co-founders, Shmulik Aloni (29) and Roman Morgenstern (39), joined the Madrid boot camp last week. They will receive a monthly stipend of €4,000 per participant (mostly for living expenses) and a work area. They are joining nine other start-ups, which receive close daily advice from scores of mentors from Europe's high-tech industry.
"We applied for the Spanish program, while simultaneously seeking entrepreneurs and investors for our start-up through LinkedIn, until I encountered the manager of the Spanish program" says Aloni. "We corresponded for 4-6 weeks, which paved the way to our entry into the program."
Startupbootcamp was launched a year ago in Copenhagen, and now also operates programs in Madrid and Dublin. It will open programs in Berlin and London in the first half of 2012. Over 100 days, Startupbootcamp allows start-ups to develop, work with each other, attend lectures, and obtain advice from mentors. A study by Kauffman Fellow Program gave Startupbootcamp a high rating in its list of leading European incubators.
Aloni and Morgenstern are old friends. Aloni was once a sports writer, political activist, and partner in an Israeli law firm, before moving to the US for two years. Morganstern has over 20 years experience in technology and start-ups. Fanarchy is engaged in sports, which they both love.
"Professional sports clubs have millions of fans on Facebook and Twitter, but clubs, like many businesses, are unable to translate these millions of fans on social networks into money," says Aloni. "We found a new way to create involvement and interaction between fans and the club. Our objective is to help clubs profit from this interaction, which they have not been able to do until now."
"Globes": It's easier for start-ups to flourish in the US. Why go to Madrid?
Aloni: "It was hard to get the venture up and running in the US because our target is European football. American investors I spoke with did not grasp the potential, because they're not football fans. Europeans get it instantly. Besides, here we're closer to our target markets - Spanish and English football clubs.
"Most Israeli start-ups focus on the US market, which is an excellent market. But it's not the only one. They miss things in Europe, where I think the mentality is closer to the Israeli mentality."
Fanarchy has not yet raised capital, except from their own resources and €8,000 from Startupbootcamp. In the coming weeks, Aloni and Morgenstern plan to visit the UK, where the aim is to launch their product within two months ofsigning cooperation agreements with a club or two. "Our main objective is to build on big clubs, such as Real Madrid and Manchester United, which have millions of fans outside of their home countries," says Aloni.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 27, 2011
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