Frequently asked questions

At any time. Applications are open all year round, and we agree the start date with each team individually.

A Venture Builder develops a startup's solutions jointly, with the direct involvement of a corporate partner and the use of its technical base and finance. At Intecrator that partner is Intecracy Ventures.

Intecracy Ventures is both the organiser of the programme and its investor.

In the first stage:

• a three-month pragmatic mentoring programme and a technical assessment of the startup's existing solution.

In the second stage:

• technical specialists for software development;
• legal specialists to set up and maintain a legal entity;
• back-office specialists for accounting, legal, marketing, HR, PR and other matters.

And also:

• access to pilot B2B clients;
• help with raising funds from third parties;
• a place to work.

The programme itself has no end date. For each startup, the first stage lasts 3 months and the second at least 9 months.

There is no set limit. We review every application, and the number of teams we work with depends on the quality of the projects and our capacity.

No. We are most interested in teams with AI at the core of the product, but we also consider other high-tech projects that meet the selection criteria.

Anyone can apply. However, we pay the most attention to small teams with early-stage solutions (an alpha prototype without UI/UX) that for various reasons do not fit the classic startup profile and so cannot always get into classic accelerators. They may be students as well as experienced programmers, inventors and scientists. What matters most is the desire to get the product ready for market as quickly and as well as possible.

Yes. We accept applications online from all over Ukraine and review every one of them.

In the first stage of the programme, a startup transfers no shares to Intecrator. For a startup that moves on to the second stage, a company is set up. In that new company, Intecrator holds TEMPORARY NOMINAL control of 50% + 1 share. Key development milestones (NOT KPIs) are agreed individually with each startup, depending on the project: MVP, MSP, first pilot client, a minimum turnover and so on. A legal mechanism then lets the team increase its share on an agreed schedule as each milestone is reached.

Once all the milestones are reached, the split between the founders and Intecrator will be 70/30, possibly 75/25, in the founders' favour. This is a normal ratio, since Intecrator is in effect the startup's first full pre-seed/seed investor. After the first agreed milestone, the team can already take back nominal control of the company under the agreed legal mechanism.

The model motivates the team to move quickly on development and on reaching practical stages of the project. It also protects Intecrator legally from teams interested only in "using up" the funds rather than actually launching a product. Finally, it protects Intecrator from losing the money and effort invested if a team falls apart for any reason and cannot continue the project.

1. Intecrator starts with 50% + 1 shares, not 100%. All agreements are signed under English law, and key decisions are taken by the standard supermajority procedure, requiring 75% + 1 votes. The startup team therefore takes part in key decisions on the startup's development. This includes raising third-party investment that could dilute participants' shares: such investment happens only by mutual consent.
2. The agreements restrict either party from unilaterally exiting its share in the startup's company for at least 18 months after the start of participation in the programme. Neither party can leave the project except by mutual consent.

Yes, Intecrator's responsibility is set out in the agreement. Defining what counts as poor delivery by Intecrator or by the teams is legally complex, so before work begins the selected startups and Intecrator have enough time to agree the legal aspects and terms of the agreement.

Intecracy Ventures values its reputation and the experience of startups that have already grown with it, and has a direct interest in delivering on its commitments, given the resources it invests in the programme. Everything a startup receives as technical assistance is recorded and documented in case critical issues arise.

We know venture funds can see it that way. However, that view applies when founders are left with no more than 50–60% of the capital after a programme, with unclear prospects for the project.

In our case the founders keep 70–75%, in line with how large corporate ventures traditionally fund projects. By the end of the programme the product also has its first pilot clients and a clear development path. What is more, our model avoids the need for pre-revenue funding rounds, which goes a long way towards solving the problem of raising money from outside investors.

Intecrator does not compare itself with other programmes or try to compete with them. We work as a Venture Builder: we do not simply hand over money. We care about getting the product to market and share our experience, resources and opportunities to actually launch your project and make it profitable.

Our format is not for advanced founders who have the money and skills to grow a product themselves and use accelerators for international networking. We are for those who need technical help in improving the product and running the business effectively.

A key advantage of Intecrator is that we can spot a strong idea before it has been wrapped up attractively for investors, and see its potential when it is only just emerging.

1. We want to give more, because launching a startup almost always comes down to being "just a couple of thousand dollars" short.
2. We want to show you how to use the investment well, so that the product reaches the market and succeeds there. That avoids the common situation where the money runs out in 3–6 months, with no product, no marketing and a team barely surviving.
3. In such cases there is almost no control over how the funds are used. Philanthropic programmes or giants such as YCombinator, which turn out hundreds of startups a year and are funded by the world's largest funds, can afford that approach. Intecrator takes a different one.
4. Our goal is a commercially sensible model of startup development that benefits both Intecracy Ventures and the startups we believe in.