BootUp

BootUp is an intensive business development program that ends with a DemoDay where you get to pitch to investors. The program runs for three months and starts twice a year, in March and September. Ten to twelve startups are selected to participate in the program with the goal of creating a foundation for the problem solution and access methods and tools to develop and be able to scale up within product development, sales, and market.

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The program

BootUp is a condensed business development program that takes your tech startup to new heights. Through a combination of inspiring lectures, personal coaching and professional feedback, we give you the tools you need to take your business idea to the next level.

Our program offers a dynamic mix of individual work and group work, where you can benefit from the shared knowledge and experience of like-minded entrepreneurs. Working together in groups gives you the opportunity to challenge and improve your idea while gaining invaluable insights and feedback from our experts.

We understand that success doesn’t happen overnight, and our goal is not for you to create a scalable business model in three months. However, we want to give you a solid foundation to build on. The first step is to validate your problem solution. We help you identify and understand the real challenges your potential customers face and develop a relevant solution that addresses their needs.

LEAD BootUp strives to help you create a business idea that is not only financially successful, but also has a positive impact on society and the environment. We emphasize the importance of ensuring sustainability values and we want your idea to improve the world and contribute to your own growth.

Are you ready to go BootUp? A guide on the journey towards realizing your business idea and see how you can turn your visions into reality. Take the chance to be part of LEAD’s community of innovative entrepreneurs and let’s shape the tech landscape of the future together.

The next round of BootUp will start on March 7, 2024.

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To be admitted to LEAD BootUp, you need to attend a LEAD Intro, where one of our business coaches will sit down with you to understand more about the business idea. You sign up for LEAD intro when you apply to the program.

Date for BootUp spring 2024:
March 7, March 21, April 4, April 18, May 2, May 16 (demoday), May 23

A Researcher Steps into the Startup World

Theresia Arbring Sjöström, who is a postdoc in the Organic Bioelectronics group at Linköping University, participated in the BootUp program during spring 2023. Through the program, she received training in topics such as market segmentation, interview techniques, and value chain. She gained new perspectives and discovered an entirely new world, as she puts it. The startup world. It gave her a basic understanding of business development that she now brings with her in her continued verification work.

"With the new mindset that BootUp gave me, I feel that I make wiser choices when planning my research. Even as a researcher, you need to talk to the user and focus on needs-driven development. I previously felt that research and entrepreneurship were two completely different worlds.
Now I have realized that they need each other."

- Theresia Arbring Sjöström, Postdoc at LOE, Linköping University

Read the article

Offering and expectations

LEAD BootUp is suitable for you who:

  • Have identified a clear problem they want to solve.
  • Have an idea for a solution and the resources to move forward.
  • Have a team of at least two people, one of whom has time to focus on developing the idea.
  • Is a member of LEAD. To work with us, you need to become a member. You apply for a membership when you apply for BootUp.
Nordic Energy Audit kammade hem vinst i LEAD BootUp Meeting Challenge

What is included in BootUp?

  • Seminars and workshops in various areas, such as branding, law, financing, sales and more.
  • Continuous group coaching and individual feedback sessions
  • Feedback and networking activities
  • Access to conference room, printer, WiFi and free coffee.

Our ambition is that during BootUp, you will:

  • Validate customer and user needs.
  • Identify and verify the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
  • Become ready to move forward and build your company.
  • Create a foundation and domain knowledge to help you sell your idea.

Of course, there are some criteria for members:

  • Business idea potential: Solving a large and important problem must offer the potential for high growth and scalability, and it must be possible to build a company in an international market.
  • Enthusiasm: You must possess significant drive as an idea bearer and entrepreneur.