GERMANY: METRO Accelerator powered by Techstars launches first program with digital solutions for the retail sector | Progresiv
20 noiembrie 2016
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In a tried and tested cooperation with Techstars, the METRO GROUP Wholesale & Food Specialist Company (W&FS Co.) is launching a new start-up program under the umbrella of the METRO Accelerator to drive digital solutions for the retail sector. This will be the first time that METRO and Real, together, assume the role of expert coaches for the start-ups. The “METRO Accelerator for Retail powered by Techstars” complements the Accelerator program for digital solutions in the hotel, restaurant and catering industry which has been running successfully for the past two years. The new program will kick off on 12 June 2017 in Berlin. 
The second Accelerator of METRO GROUP W&FS Co. addresses start-ups offering innovative digital applications for independent traders, a key customer group of METRO Cash & Carry and of large hypermarkets which are the business model of Real who participates as a new partner in METRO’s Accelerator program. Over a period of three months, experienced mentors and experts will support ten selected international start-ups in Berlin to further refine their business model and establish themselves in the market. The METRO Accelerator for Retail powered by Techstars is the first accelerator that systematically promotes digital applications for independent traders (B2B2C) and also for Real as one of the leading hypermarket chains (B2C).
We are looking for start-up teams who develop technology-based services and products to accelerate business processes in the retail sector or to intensify customer relationships and bring them into the digital age. Digital applications are to make METRO’s customers even more successful in the future and Real as an important German hypermarket chain is to benefit from further innovative impulses. The range of digital solution users extends from kiosks, local grocery stores, service stations or delivery services all the way to franchise retail chains and hypermarkets.
As from now and throughout 12 March 2017, interested start-ups from the world over can submit their application for the start-up program on the English language website www.metroaccelerator.com. The teams must complete a questionnaire and can optionally also upload a video. The complete application process is in English. In telephone interviews and face-to-face meetings, an experienced jury of investors and mentors will select the ten most promising start-ups.
“The core of our strategy is to help our customers to become even more successful in their businesses. Here, digital solutions play an increasingly important role. After successfully establishing the METRO Accelerator for the hospitality sector together with Techstars the time has come to take the next step. We are convinced that independent traders can strongly benefit from digital solutions – with regard to customer communication, new services and also in terms of their business operations. That is why we are now launching the METRO Accelerator for Retail. Together with Techstars, we want to help innovative companies to develop successfully. In this process, the start-ups will receive extensive support, like for example access to more than 100 mentors”, says Olaf Koch, Chairman of the Management Board of METRO AG.
The METRO Accelerator for Retail powered by Techstars, just like the Accelerator for the hospitality sector, comprises a three-month program in Berlin. Ten selected start-ups from all over the world will be intensively supported by mentors in the process of further developing their innovations. To this effect, METRO Cash & Carry which operates in 25 countries with 21 million customers worldwide and Real will contribute the extensive expertise of its specialists from the fields of Procurement, Sales, Marketing, Strategy, Finance, Legal and Communications. “With the Accelerator program, we can systematically expand our innovation leadership in German food retail developed over many years. With around 300 locations in Germany, an average sales floor of around 8,000 square meters, an assortment of up to 80,000 articles and up to one million customers per day, Real like no other company offers the ideal platform for start-up teams to test their technical innovations in the German retail sector”, says Real’s CEO Patrick Müller-Sarmiento.
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