Merck, which is one of the forerunners when it comes to science and technology, have rolled out applications for their upcoming Accelerator program. The accelerator would take place from mid-January until April 2019 at the Merck Innovation Center in Darmstadt, Germany. And they have invited startup applicants from all over the world.
According to Michael Gamber, Head of the Merck Innovation Center: “For our next Accelerator intake we will concentrate on future collaboration. From the last intake six startups are now focused on working together with Merck to realize their collaboration projects. We want to find potential partners to shape the future with us. Giving Accelerator startups the chance to access the Chinese market is another exciting step.
Extending the program in this way allows us to further develop our partnership strategies with startups.”
With an objective of a business partnership with Merck, the accelerator has broadened its scopes from core-business fields of life science, performance materials, and healthcare, to startups operating in additional search fields like future technology products leveraging bio-sensing, interfaces and precision farming.
There is an option for selected applicants to extend their participation in the program by joining the China Innovation Hub Accelerator in Shanghai. This would be for an additional three months. This would be to allow access to mentoring sessions on entering the Chinese market, while addressing topics such as local customer-base, regulatory affairs, and localized business models.
Deadline for application is set at 30th September 2018. And start-ups can submit their applications via the Merck Accelerator Website. After which ten teams would be selected and will move into the recently inaugurated innovation center in Darmstadt, Germany.