In Europe, the entrepreneurial dream faces barriers that founders in Silicon Valley may never encounter. Limited local funding, sparse mentorship networks, and a fragmented market often leave startup founders feeling isolated. As someone who has tread the thorny path of entrepreneurship across multiple countries, I, Violetta Bonenkamp, see the launch of Onstage’s £10 million fund as a pivotal moment for the European startup ecosystem, a chance to redefine the foundation of startup success in ways uniquely tailored to our continent.
The Game-Changer That Is Onstage
What's fascinating about Onstage's initiative isn’t just the money. £10 million may sound substantial, but in startup funding terms, it’s only the beginning. The revolutionary aspect isn’t the size of the fund but its strategy. Onstage didn’t just create a fund; they’ve built a network-centric model akin to Y Combinator that prioritizes founder access to mentorship, industry networks, and global deal opportunities. If you’ve ever witnessed the power of Y Combinator’s alumni, you know it’s about connections as much as capital.
Why does this matter? Most European startups lack access to a Silicon Valley-like support system where introductions to key investors or acceleration networks can make or break a startup's trajectory. What Onstage dares to build goes beyond being a passive fund to actively platforming founders in a way Europe hasn’t seen before.
Deep Dive Into Their Model
Onstage led its growth through Demo Day events. I’ve personally seen the transformative impact Demo Days have on startups, what begins as a pitch evolves into funding rounds, partnerships, and the elevation of technology and ideas that would otherwise go unnoticed. With this £10m fund:
- 80 startups will see investment in pre-seed and seed rounds over three years.
- Focus on network-building rather than standalone programs.
- Scaled to support unique European needs, less pitch theater, more real-time access to mentors, operational advice, and global reach.
This feels like the evolution of demo events into backed ecosystems primed to develop globally relevant companies directly out of Europe.
How I’ve Experienced the Need for This
When I founded CADChain and later Fe/male Switch, the hurdle wasn’t the lack of ideas but navigating disparate funding models, figuring out European legal infrastructure, and securing my team’s growth amid chaotic startup timelines. I’ve participated in accelerators in places like Delft and Eindhoven, spent months pitching across incubators in Europe, and networked with global peers through programs like the OECD Blockchain Policy Forum.
One frustration stood out, too often, European founders play catch-up with globally dominant accelerators like Y Combinator, whose structure sometimes fails to account for regional gaps such as fragmented country policies, slower early-stage exits, and limited scalability outside individual countries.
What Makes Onstage Different
A Fresh Strategy
Unlike competitor accelerators such as Seedcamp or Techstars Europe, Onstage focuses purely on enabling connections and deal flow without the heavy-handed accelerator approach. Why does this matter? European founders need funding, yes, but they also need strong consortiums of investors, directors, and experienced operators. That’s where Onstage’s emphasis on weeding out "network isolation" becomes revolutionary.
Founder-First Philosophy
Having guided startups in both deeptech and educational fields, I can confidently say founders are increasingly demanding mentorship-focused ecosystems. Many of us are looking for deeply knowledgeable allies, not funders with a spreadsheet-first mentality. It’s heartening to see Onstage anchor itself around pre-seed mentorship instead of focusing solely on ROI-driven metrics.
How Founders and Entrepreneurs Should Prepare
If you’re considering applying to Onstage’s program when their fund takes off, here’s what I’d advise based on lessons learned across multiple European venture struggles:
Step-by-Step Guide to Leverage Initiatives Like Onstage:
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Prepare a Regional Scalability Plan: European startups often falter in aligning their product-market fit across member states. Demonstrate how your solution adapts to regulations in Germany while thriving in the Nordic region.
- Resources: Check out the European Startup Network for regional legal guidance.
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Get Investment Bolted to a Network Strategy: Do not just focus on cash flow; years of entrepreneurship have shown me that founders who use funds to plug gaps in networks thrive longer. Onstage seems eager to champion this, are you prepared to navigate mentorship-heavy demands as opposed to purely capital interests?
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Showcase Resilience in Tech and Market Impact: Startups like Scan.com, which graduated Onstage Demo Days earlier, succeeded because their models showed resilience in scaling across Europe. Build consistency into your pitch.
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Foster Relationships Beyond the Pitch: Y Combinator’s greatest lesson was its alumni network. Have you already tapped into personal mentorship communities, local innovation hubs, or even international groups where Onstage-like backers are hunting?
Common Pitfalls European Founders Must Avoid
1. Over-engineering Pitch Decks
The European mentality often leans toward dense data-first documentation. Don’t let numbers overpower your narrative; keep slides crisp and demonstrate market impact.
2. Ignoring Regional Expansion Differences
The Baltic region or Switzerland offer uniquely favorable startup platforms but call for different scaling mechanisms compared to Western Europe. Learn your regional sweet spots.
3. Underestimating Connections-as-Assets
Demo Days aren’t just events, they often rival equity stakes if leveraged correctly. Make every connection vertically scalable.
Onstage's Broader Impact: Will It Work?
Ultimately, whether Onstage actually becomes Europe’s own YC depends on its ability to curate meaningful relationships. European founders are eager for networks, and while Demo Day initiatives often hit high points for publicity, actual follow-through via investment consistency will tell. Onstage’s inclusion of diverse founders and tech fields will also play a pivotal role.
If we’re lucky as a continent, Onstage could accelerate Europe's next billion-dollar company diversification beyond fintech, perhaps into AI, deeptech, or advanced blockchain solutions.
Final Thoughts
As someone who champions multidisciplinary entrepreneurship with "gamepreneurship" at Fe/male Switch, I believe Onstage’s bold ambition must be embraced. The era of Europe’s isolated early-stage entrepreneurs may soon give way to network-first funding models epitomized by initiatives like this one. Founders should start now, create concise strategies, test innovation clusters, and anticipate funders hungry for global breakthrough ideas.
The tech game, as I’ve often said, isn’t just what you build, it’s who you build it for. Europe's future could hinge on more Onstage experiments.
Your thoughts, fellow innovators? Let’s ensure that “YC for Europe” doesn’t just echo buzzwords, it echoes impact.
FAQ
1. What is Onstage's new initiative aiming to achieve?
Onstage has launched a £10 million fund to create a European version of Y Combinator, focusing on pre-seed and seed-stage startups while providing mentorship and network access. Read more about Onstage’s fund
2. How many startups will the fund support, and over what period?
The fund plans to support 80 startups across Europe over three years, emphasizing pre-seed and seed investments. Discover Onstage’s targets
3. What makes Onstage’s approach different from traditional accelerators?
Unlike Seedcamp or Techstars Europe, Onstage emphasizes building a networking and deal-flow platform rather than running formal accelerator programs. Explore Onstage’s model
4. What is the significance of Onstage’s Demo Day events?
Onstage’s Demo Day events act as game-changing platforms for European startups to attract investment and global presence. Learn about Onstage Demo Days
5. Who is leading Onstage’s new venture fund?
The fund is led by Joel Hambly, Onstage’s founding partner. Get the details about Joel Hambly’s role
6. How does Onstage aim to reshape the European startup ecosystem?
Onstage plans to address issues European founders face, such as mentorship gaps, limited funding access, and fragmented markets, by creating a more streamlined network-first funding model. Dive into Onstage’s ecosystem strategy
7. What industries and innovations could benefit most from Onstage’s model?
Onstage’s approach may accelerate growth in industries such as AI, deeptech, and blockchain technology. Learn about the industries Onstage could impact
8. Why do European founders face challenges with current accelerators?
Many accelerators don’t account for regional challenges like fragmented policies, slower early-stage exits, and complex scalability across countries. Explore European startup struggles
9. How has Onstage’s Demo Day cohort performed historically?
Past Demo Day finalists, like Scan.com and Lawhive, have collectively raised over £500 million, highlighting Onstage’s effectiveness. Check out Demo Day success stories
10. What challenges could be mitigated by Onstage’s £10m fund?
Founders will benefit from networking opportunities, mentorship-driven growth models, and better alignment with Europe’s startup regulations, all gaps traditionally ignored by other accelerators. Discover Onstage’s impact on European founders
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.