EWOR Founder Fellowship: €68M Program for European Startups

A Surge in Support for Young European Entrepreneurs

There's a growing trend of backing early-stage entrepreneurs across Europe. Harry Stebbings, a prominent podcaster and venture investor, initiated Project Europe in March. This initiative aimed to provide funding to founders 25 years of age and under, utilizing a $10 million fund inspired by the original “Peter Thiel Fellowship” concept.

Now, a new fund is emerging with a significantly larger commitment. It intends to expand upon this model with a substantial investment of $68 million.

EWOR Launches €60 Million Founder Fellowship

EWOR (entrepreneurship without risk) has unveiled its own “founder fellowship,” allocating €60 million to the program. The fund will provide chosen founders with €500,000 in capital in exchange for a 7% equity stake. This contrasts with Project Europe’s offer of €200,000 for a 6.66% stake.

EWOR reports that its program graduates have, on average, successfully secured between €1 million and €11 million in subsequent funding while participating in the fellowship.

Program Details and Support

Each year, the funding will be distributed among 35 entrepreneurs who embody EWOR’s criteria. These include “visionaries, technical prodigies, deeply driven operators, and serial entrepreneurs.”

Fellows will receive primarily virtual support, including personalized 1:1 mentorship – offering between 1 and 5 hours of weekly guidance from a “unicorn founder”. They will also gain access to a network of over 2,000 mentors, venture capitalists, and industry experts.

The €500,000 investment will be structured as €110,000 directly from EWOR GmbH, supplemented by an additional €390,000 from the investment fund through an uncapped convertible note or a similar financial instrument.

The Team Behind EWOR

Established in 2021, EWOR is spearheaded by a team of six entrepreneurs: Daniel Dippold, Alexander Grots, Florian Huber, Petter Made, Quinten Selhorst, and Paul Müller. Prior to founding EWOR, they held positions at companies such as SumUp, Adjust, ProGlove, and United-Domains.

EWOR's Approach Compared to Project Europe

In a recent interview with TechCrunch, Dippold highlighted the differences between EWOR’s fellowship and Project Europe. He stated that while Project Europe focuses on backing entrepreneurs with “just an idea,” EWOR is equipped to support ventures at any stage.

“We offer two distinct fellowships: one for ideation and another for ventures with existing traction. Founders can join at the very inception of their concept, even without a co-founder or a fully formed idea,” he explained.

“We operate EWOR using principles similar to a software company – emphasizing build, measure, and learn. Our primary goal is to provide the most valuable experience possible for any founder,” he added.

Current Cohort Highlights

To date, ten founders have been selected for this year’s cohort. Among them is Mark Golab, a 3D-printing specialist based in the U.K. He is applying this technology to organ transplantation through his company, Cambridge Surgical Models, following a personal experience with a life-threatening infection.

Another participant is Viktoria Izdebska, based in Vienna, who is developing lead generation solutions with Salesy.

Successful EWOR Alumni

Past fellows of the EWOR program include Ricky Knox, who successfully exited both Azimo and Tandem Bank for nine-figure sums. Tim Seithe is another notable alumnus, having bootstrapped and led Tillhub to an exit valued at nearly €100 million.