STILL NOT CRYSTAL CLEAR?

We are not a venture capital fund

We’re here to give you the tools and contacts you need to grow – by doing a pilot run with one of our clients, for example. If the only thing that interests you is financial backing, this isn’t the right program.

Let’s close some deals together, first? And don’t worry, it’s our job to find you the right contacts. There’ll always be time to talk about funding, if we get to that point.

We aren’t looking for providers or suppliers, but partners!

No need to contact us if you want to sell your product or solution to one of Groupe La Poste’s business units, this is not the right avenue.

Our goal is to have a win-win partnership and to sell your product through our own sales force subsidiaries. No more, no less.

We aren’t an incubator. We’re an accelerator!

Let’s get technical, technical. We’re serious. Technically, an incubator is for start-ups at the very beginning of their adventure: the ideation and prototyping phase.

As your friendly neighborhood accelerator, Start’inPost works with start-ups that are a little more mature – meaning start-ups that have already gone to market with their solutions. Also, unlike an incubator, which traditionally provides a workspace, we don’t house any teams – at least not for the moment.

We are not TV series producers (No “seasons”, no application deadlines).

At Start’inPost, our program has no set start and finish dates. We work with teams individually and review applications all year long (except during Christmas holidays and during Champions League finals).

We are in the province or in another country, can we still apply?

Of course. A lot of our alumni are based in the province or outside of France.

All you need to do is install Skype. And of course, come by for dinner and drinks whenever you’re in Paris.

At what stage is my start-up eligible to join?

We prioritize one thing: traction. To have this your product needs to have faced the market (at least in beta) and received user feedback to show that your concept attracts interest.

If you’ve got that, and a little bit of traction in the form of revenue, then you’re ready to apply.

How does the selection process work?

1 / You fill in the online form
2 / Within a month, the Start’inPost team gets back to you with an answer. If it’s negative, you’ll get a phone call and helpful feedback from Kevin. If it’s positive, you’ll still get a phone call from Kevin, but it’ll be to set an appointment.
3 / You pitch in front of the Start’inPost team for 10 mins. If everything goes as planned, you’ll be assigned a project leader – either Kevin, Laurent or Hugues. Your project leader will then schedule a personal audience between you and a “sponsor” (= a manager of Groupe La Poste that may be interested in a partnership).
4 / If the appointment with the sponsor is positive, he or she will set up a “test” with you. Welcome to the ranks of Start’inPost alumni.

So what is this “test”?

Test, pilot run, experiment. Call it what you will. The point is to check how your solution appeals to La Poste’s clientele.

An example: your sponsor puts you in touch with 10,000 SMEs in its customer base with the goal of signing 10 contracts.

Another example? Your sponsor features you on one of the Group’s portals (13.7 unique visitors in total).