In-depth Info

Anyone can apply for the program. As a team. 

Provided you have the motivation and energy to set up a revenue generating business that promotes circular economy principles.

But, NOTE:

• You should apply as a team. With a minimum of 2 people
• Ideally, you should have some University Education
• Sales and Marketing skills are important for this line of business. So, if you have experience, education or natural B2B Sales and Social Media skills, you will be successful
• If you have previous experience in running a startup or working for an e-Commerce, Marketplace or Delivery (e.g.: UberEats) startup, it will be a bonus!

No. On the contrary, if you have an existing startup, we recommend that you focus on your startup’s growth. 

The intake for this program is a startup team. Not a startup.

However, an exception will be made for a team with an existing startup if the Founding team is willing to pivot or do a spin-off that is more in line with the DLA’s mission. Then you will be eligible to apply.

We strongly recommend a checklist of 3 crucial steps before you hit the APPLY button:

• Did you talk to your classmates, current or past colleagues or co-founders and set up a team of at least 2 people? 
• Did you check out the Calendar and attend at least one Webinar or Seminar? Or, if you missed all of them, did you watch video recordings from previous Webinars?
• Lastly, do you have a plan of execution of turning a chosen Digital Loop into a circular economy startup? 

Digital Loop Accelerator is based on the concept of Digital Loops and many successful Circular Economy startups all over the world are based on a few standard digital loops.

Before you choose a digital loop and apply, we want to help you understand the concept better.

What are these digital loops? What are the five (5) most common ones? How do you create a startup from a digital loop? How small variations of one (1) digital loop can give rise to multiple circular economy startups?

We will explain such concepts and answer all these questions in the Webinars and Seminars. Not only through theoretical explanations. But, live demos from Founders of successful circular economy startups!

Yes, absolutely. The Grant money – of up to € 47,000 – will be given in three tranches as you progress through the program. The better you perform, the higher Grant money you earn.

Yes. However, we strongly recommend that you team up with at least 1 Albanian person. This is because the Digital Loop Accelerator intends to create 10 Albanian circular economy companies that begin operating in the Albanian market. They may choose to expand to other foreign markets later. 

Ideally, a startup team should have about 2-3 members. We recommend not having more than 3 co-founding members. And, we discourage fewer than two (i.e., solo founders). 

In terms of composition, an effective co-founding team is balanced in terms of skills and experience. Here are some examples:

• Person (P1) with B2B Sales experience of 3 years pairs up with P2, a young social media marketer who is still studying in the University
• P1, with 5 years of working with an e-Commerce company teams up with P2, who worked for 2 years in a Marketing Agency
• P1, P2 and P3 are three University students who have lots of energy and enthusiasm to build their own business 
• P1 is a failed entrepreneur who wants to give another shot at a startup. He teams up with P2 and P3 who are University students. P2 is naturally good at talking to people and P3 has natural skills at social media.