NINJA ACCELERATION PROGRAM

Financed by: Japan International Cooperation Agency

Implemented by: Digital Serbia Initiative

The NINJA Accelerator program is an international project that is being implemented across the world and for the first time it will be implemented in Belgrade, Serbia. The goal of this pilot program is to have between 5 and 10 B2B tech startups in this cohort. We will have startups that:

• are already on the market  and have a B2B product
• have a MoM or YoY growth
• are present in a few markets already
• wants to open new markets and scale their team
• already had an investment round and preparing for a new one

The program will last for 3 months and at the end of it, it will have a Demo Day where local and international investors will be present.

The goal for each startup at the end will be to either open a new market, sign a new client or raise an investment. There will be 7 workshops and each will be followed by a 1 on 1 online session with each startup. Every workshop will be live and held in the DSI offices for 2 days. When it comes to the actual agenda and curriculum of every workshop, we leave that to each expert to organize and develop the activities that will be covered as long as they follow the main goal and description and outcome mentioned below. We will also ask every expert to send us their agenda for the workshop 2 to 3 weeks before their planned workshop.

     ACCELERATION WORKSHOPS AND 1 ON 1 MENTORSHIP

Goal setting workshop (2 days) 

Week 24-28 of October/online
Only what you measure you can improve. Startups will work on defining key success metrics for their business and will set goals for the next 12 months. Each startup will have individualized metrics according to their specific business case. 
Startups will have clear SMART goals for the upcoming period. We will know how to track the wellbeing of their business.
Luka Prišunjak

Customer discovery and value proposition workshop (2 days) 

One on one customer discovery and value proposition mentoring 
3rd and 4th of November/in person

Week 7-11 of November/online
Deep dive into the value proposition of the companies and understanding of key value they deliver to their customers. From value proposition companies can define:

-How to enter new markets, what are the strategies and channels to do so?

-Are there any new customer segments and is an already defined value proposition applicable to all?
Startups have a clear understanding of the value and benefits their product is offering and know which markets, which customer segments are in need of that specific value. Startups will use this knowledge in planning their future expansion.
Yuriy Romanyukha 

Networking as a tool for marketing and sales workshop (2 days) 

One on one networking as a tool for marketing and sales mentorship 
18th and 19th of November/in person

Week 21-25 of November/online
Building a community is a long and hard work but one that, if done right, reaps great rewards for the company. The community creates loyal customers, adds value, and gives constant feedback. Through this workshop, startups will learn how to engage their target customer through online and offline communities and how to implement that in their sales and marketing strategies.
Startups will understand the role a community plays in their growth. They will know when to start creating one, who should be a member and what they should receive and ask in return for their engagement.
Dušanka Ilić

Team Development workshop (2 days)

One on one team development mentorship 
28th and 29th of November/in person

Week 30th of November to 2nd of December/online
The most difficult part of scaling a business is scaling a team. What are the processes and decisions startups need to make in order to grow their team in the right way?

Planning this activity must be done well in advance and this workshop will give all the tools necessary for it.
Startups have tools and resources to approach this complex topic. More importantly startups will have knowledge and awareness on how to constantly check and recheck teams’ health.
Nana Radenković

Administrative and financial hygiene of startup workshop (1 day) 

One on one administrative and financial hygiene of startup mentorship 
7th of December/in person

Week 12-16 December/online
Startups need to be comfortable with sharing their Cash Flow statements, balance sheets, financial projections, etc. How to make them and handle them in a day to day process? They are about to learn through this workshop.
Startups will have administrative checklists and tools needed to accomplish this, so often, neglected task.
Nina Tasić

Valuation and Investment Vocabulary workshop (2 days)

One on one valuation and investment vocabulary workshop 
16th and 17th of December/in person

Week 19-23 December/online
Setting a right valuation together with a data room is challenging for most of the startups. Understanding the complex workings of the investment world is even more difficult for first time founders. They are facing completely new vocabulary and way of work.Through this workshop they will learn how to prepare their business for fundraising process, what part of investment negotiations to pay attention to, what are the pros and cons of every investment vehicle and which agreements are important to have.
Startups will have:

-Clear and precise valuation arithmetics which they can use and adjust as their business grows.

-Understanding of every investment vehicle and suitability of it for their business.

-Know which additional data they need to track in order to be investment ready.
Keo Sar

Investor Sourcing workshop (2 days)

One on one investor sourcing mentorship 
12th and 13th of January/in person

Week 16-20 January/online

Startups have goals, have growth plans, have their finance in order and know which investment vehicle they want and need. Next problem is finding the investors.

How do startups know what is the best investor match for them and how  to find them? What are the steps for approaching them? How much time will this take?

This workshop will show them.
Startups have understanding of

-How to source investors?

-What are potential redflags?

-What are common negotiation tactics?

-How the fundraising timeline looks like?
Maria Carolina Romero

 *Please kindly note that 1 on 1 sessions will not happen along the whole week. We just left 5 days so you can propose 5 slots for each startup that suits you most during the week. You can finish all in one day or 3 days, it depends on your arrangements with startups.

Along with the main curriculum, startups will also have additional and special events that are not obligatory for them to attend. You can find the additional curriculum in the table below:

     ADDITIONAL CURRICULUM 

Personnel
How to make it from Serbia? -Fireside chat
22nd of October/in person
Startups need to have a higher motivation when starting from Serbia since last year many startups prove it is possible to dream big from a small country. The goal would be to put their ambitions on bigger levels and set their goals even higher. We would invite founders of one of our most successful startups in the ecosystem, Tenderly and other startups that have made a significant success in the recent period (depending on their availability).
100% of startups have attended the lecture with a minimum 2 panelists. 
Nataša Škrbić

Which government incentives can you use to optimize your finances in Serbia and get set for global growth? – Workshop
1st of December/in person
Startups will get to know more about government incentives and how to use them in a proper way.
Startups are aware of the incentives and know how and when to use them.
Svetislav Kostić

How can a Western Balkan startup enter an Asian market?
28th of January/hybrid
Startups will get to know more about Asian market and how it works compared to the Serbian ecosystem and also which exit opportunities may be in the Asian market.
Startups are familiar with the Asian market and strategies on how to enter it.
JICA representative and Nataša Škrbić
Pitch training - optional
From 23rd of January until 2nd of February/in person
How to make a pitch deck that will blow investors' minds? What to include in the deck and how to model it? Startups will get to know through this pitch training.
Pitch decks from startups are ready to be shown to investors.
Peter Brunner
 

The Demo Day is planned to happen on 3rd of February. Before the actual Demo day, startups will have a Mock Demo Day in the mid of December in order to see how well they are prepared so far and what are the segments they need to work more on.