Grow Your Impact with Symbiosis
Turn your purpose into progress. The Symbiosis Accelerator helps founders and early-stage start-ups grow into lasting social impact.
About the Program
Program Purpose
Designed for early-stage founders and emerging leaders working toward measurable social impact aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Whether your initiative focuses on health, well-being, education, equality, climate, nature, or collaborative entrepreneurship, this program equips you with the structure, clarity, and network to accelerate your vision.
Delivery & Expertise
Led by experts with over a decade of international experience—including training from Harvard and Oxford—the Accelerator combines practical tools, structured sessions, peer collaboration, and mentoring in a dynamic and supportive environment.
Program Syllabus
For a full breakdown of all six sessions – including tools, live sessions, assignments, and expected outcomes – download the complete Accelerator Program Syllabus.
📄 Download the Program Brochure
Program Timeline
Each quarter offers a separate Accelerator cycle. You only join one cycle, not the entire year. We confirm the most suitable cycle together during the onboarding conversation.
- Start-up Acceleration (Q1 & Q3) supports founders and early-stage teams refining their ideas, structure, and impact strategy.
- Personal Acceleration (Q2 & Q4) focuses on leadership, resilience, clarity, and personal growth for changemakers.
2026 Q1
Start-up
Acceleration
2026 Q2
Personal
Acceleration
2026 Q3
Personal
Acceleration
2026 Q4
Start-up
Acceleration
Who Should Apply
Early-Stage Founders
You’re developing an early-stage idea, prototype, or service and want to refine the direction, validate assumptions, and build a stronger foundation for long-term impact.
Program Overview
Session 1
Opportunity Discovery
Discover effective interventions for impact, prioritize value creation.
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- Impact Learning Hub: Overview of global challenges and how to prioritize for high-value impact.
- Live Session: Introduction of participants and Symbiosis. Maximizing impact per time/EUR and understanding opportunity cost.
- Tools: Weighted Factor Model (WFM)
- Team Assignment: Personal introduction and concept impact topic.
- Participant Input: Connect with others in the cohort and respond to two concept-impact submissions.
- Result: Best high-value impact options.
Session 2
Your Theory of Change
Define your purpose, vision, mission, and core values. Visualize your succes.
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- Impact Learning Hub: Create your mission, vision, focus area, and visualize success.
- Live Session: Value Stick framework, WFM refinement, and vision-board review.
- Tools: Mission template, vision template, SWOT, and vision board.
- Team Assignment: Share your Weighted Factor Model on the best opportunity plus your mission.
- Participant Input: Respond to two mission submissions and ask Symbiosis one support question.
- Result: Mission and opportunities clarified; vision of success defined.
Session 3
Start-Up and Prototype Proofing
Evaluate how team up for your mission in our digital age, how to fail well, and get a financial fundament to build on.
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- Impact Learning Hub: Teaming in a digital age, how AI works, and how to fail well.
- Live Session: Collaboration examples; failing-well practices; AI journeys and ChildLink insights.
- Tools: Personal profile, complementary team mapping, and identifying where AI helps.
- Team Assignment: Select and design your prototype with a fail-well mindset.
- Participant Input: Share and discuss your prototype and comment on at least three prototypes from others.
- Result: Prototype concept and ramp-down plan.
Session 4
Brand Voice & Storytelling
Apply branding to social media, packaging, website, and marketing. Craft your tone of voice, tagline, and key messages. Boost efficiency with AI.
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- Impact Learning Hub: Authentic communication, tagline development, branding and storytelling, and website UX.
- Live Session: Organizational branding and storytelling; social media pitfalls.
- Tools: Hero–Hub–Hygiene model and template brand guide.
- Team Assignment: Create your social-media strategy and set up one social-platform account.
- Participant Input: Evaluate two social-media strategies and comment on the first posts from four others.
- Result: A storytelling strategy and increased visibility.
Session 5
Impact Multiplication
Find collaboration partners, know what you want to offer to them, understand your data and understand the impact you can have through AI.
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- Impact Learning Hub: Financial essentials, best-practice AI use, and the staged framework.
- Live Session: Business sustainability and accounting; data governance and effective AI use.
- Tools: Staged growth framework and budget template.
- Team Assignment: Create your growth framework and write your advice or experience with AI usage.
- Participant Input: React to two growth frameworks and respond to the best AI-usage advice.
- Result: Growth framework in stages, plus financial and AI-usage insights.
Session 6
Growth & Effective Organizations
Map your network, see stakeholders, know what makes some start-ups thrive, plan your next steps.
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- Impact Learning Hub: Network dynamics and bridges, stakeholder analysis, and outcome measurement.
- Live Session: Networking examples and program wrap-up.
- Tools: Team & Output Dashboard.
- Team Assignment: Create your dashboard and write a reflection on the course.
- Participant Input: React to three course reflections and plan a follow-up meeting with another participant.
- Result: Identified stakeholders, strengthened networking, and progress monitoring via your dashboard; certification, award eligibility, and partnership opportunities.
Participation & Recognition
- Participants pay a €75 commitment deposit that is fully refunded after program completion.
- Graduates receive an official Symbiosis Foundation Certificate.
- All participants become eligible for the annual Symbiosis Award of the Year, including a €200 symbolic prize.
Requirements
- You are a seed-stage or early-stage founder OR plan to launch within 6 months. (Typically: a team under 5 FTE or 15 members, less than €25k annual revenue, and piloting a prototype or service.)
- Your initiative contributes to environmental or social impact aligned with UN SDGs.
- You can attend all 6 live online sessions and work in English.
- You are open, collaborative, and eager to grow alongside a motivated peer community.