This year, Katapult’s accelerator programs ran parallel to each other, in addition to being fully digitalized. Startups benefited from a program adjusted to accommodate global time zones for the international cohort and a doubling of our extensive network of expert mentors.

Program Director and Partner in Katapult, Marcus Hølland Eikeland, says that this year’s program solved previous logistical challenges, “Two distinct aspects of this year’s program which benefited the startups immensely; first, we delivered 70% of the program as asynchronous programmatic elements with supporting live sessions. This made the founders unaffected by time zones and could work more efficiently with our modules. Second, we were able to combine the best of two programs in the Katapult Universe – the Ocean Accelerator and Climate Accelerator – into one super-program. All of this has brought the game to a whole new level.”

In 2021, 18 companies spread across 14 countries joined Katapult’s portfolio, starting with a three month program addressing well-known barriers for early stage companies. The first month focused on commercialization, impact, branding and business development, typical themes that founders tend to postpone in order to get an MVP to market. The next two months were heavily focused on investor readiness, networking and mentorship. The overarching goal of Katapult’s accelerator program is to make the founders aware of all the steps necessary in order to scale.

The new program also featured a comprehensive technology stack to ensure that founders can benefit from peer-to-peer learning and tap into the wealth of knowledge of mentors with little effort. Eikeland explains, “We’ve experimented with lots of different scheduling, video conferencing and online workshop tools to make the experience both more efficient but also more meaningful for the founders, partners and mentors who engage with us. This whole thing would not be possible without help and contributions from an outstanding pool of extraordinary men & women who make up the Katapult mentors. Countless hours of knowledge & experience transfer former founders, investors and experts. Their collective efforts provided immense value.”

In total, the program featured modules from 32 content providers who were contributing from all over the world. This amazing group of subject matter experts, together with 100s of 1-1, coaching, forums and mentoring sparring sessions delivered by the Katapult mentor network has had a huge impact on the company’s trajectory and is without a doubt our most valuable contribution.

Thank you to our network for this year’s successful program:

Content Providers:
Sirine Fodstad
Jason Scott
Brage W Johansen
Cilia Holmes Indahl
Trond Riiber Knudsen
Melissa Busch-Christensen
Fredrik Harloff
Dickon Stone
Niels Brøgger
Alison Fort
Inez Ekblad
Joscha Raue
Sagar Chandna
Juan Carlos Velten
Lars Johan Bjørkevoll
Maiken Michelsen
Thomas Tveteråas
Christian Rangen
Susanne Gløersen
Kristian Hoff
Pablo Sobron
Sean Percival
Aliaa Hamzaa
Louise Bleach
Alexander Iversen
Bailey Morrow
Jon Hindar
Matt Smith
Sindre Østgård
Jeremy Gerst
Carolos Foscolos
Simen Fure Jørgensen

In addition to the people above, we say thanks to 50 + mentors who all contributed with insights, coaching, advice and sparring to our cohort.

Check out the 18 tech startups and how their technologies are vying to make a global impact for the ocean, climate and humanity. here.

If you are a startup interested in joining our next round, apply here.