EWOR has introduced a €60 million fellowship programme offering €500,000 and expert mentorship to 35 early-stage European entrepreneurs annually, supporting founders from ideation through to traction with access to extensive networks and advanced tech matching.
A new entrepreneurial fellowship targeting super-early stage founders in Europe has launched with significant financial backing, aiming to support visionaries and operators at the very start of their startup journeys. The programme, run by EWOR (Entrepreneurship Without Risk), has committed €60 million to provide capital and expert mentorship to 35 chosen entrepreneurs annually.
EWOR’s founder fellowship offers selected founders €500,000 in exchange for a 7% equity stake, a notable increase from earlier programmes like Project Europe, which provides €200,000 for a 6.66% stake. This new initiative claims graduates have typically raised between €1 million and €11 million in funding during their time in the fellowship.
The financial package includes €110,000 directly from EWOR GmbH, coupled with €390,000 from an associated investment fund, supplied via an uncapped convertible note or similar financial instrument. Importantly, the fellowship caters not only to entrepreneurs with initial traction but also to those still in the ideation phase. As Daniel Dippold, co-founder of EWOR who spoke with TechCrunch, explained, “We do two fellowships, ideation and traction. You can literally—like we had a year ago with the youngest machine learning researcher from Cambridge—have no co-founder, no idea. You can start at inception, no problem.”
Participants benefit from a virtual-first support model that includes one-on-one mentorship, with founders able to access between one to five hours weekly of guidance from ‘unicorn founders’. Additionally, fellows gain entry to a large network comprising some 2,000 mentors, venture capitalists, and subject-matter experts, a significant expansion compared to Project Europe’s founder-investor network of 128 backers.
Since its inception in 2021, EWOR has been led by six entrepreneurs with backgrounds at prominent companies such as SumUp, Adjust, ProGlove, and united-domains. Alongside Daniel Dippold, the leadership team includes Alexander Grots, Florian Huber, Petter Made, Quinten Selhorst, and Paul Müller.
The fellowship leverages advanced technology to match founders and mentors, utilising a specialised vector database that indexes detailed data such as a candidate’s GitHub contributions. Dippold highlighted this capability: “We have 50,000 applicants in a vector database that understands every intricate detail of a person’s GitHub. So if you need to hire a person with 10,000 lines of code and Rust skills, I can find that person with one query.”
Among the fellowship’s success stories is Aspect Health, a startup founded in Moldova that secured funding across Silicon Valley and New York before reaching a valuation of $50 million. Past fellows have also included notable founders like Ricky Knox, who secured two nine-figure exits with Azimo and Tandem Bank, and Tim Seithe, who led the company Tillhub to a bootstrapped exit near €100 million.
Ten founders have already been admitted to the current year’s cohort. They include Mark Golab, a UK-based pioneer in 3D printing who applies the technology to organ transplant development with his venture Cambridge Surgical Models, following his personal experience surviving a life-threatening infection. Also among the cohort is Viktoria Izdebezka from Vienna, focused on lead generation technology with her startup Salesy.
Jörgen Tveit, founder of Thaleron and a former EWOR fellow, praised the initiative: “The founders of EWOR are deeply technical and understand the challenges of building a world-changing tech company.”
The EWOR fellowship’s combination of substantial early-stage capital, dedicated technical mentorship, and broad expert networks positions it as a distinctive, robust support system for young European entrepreneurs aiming to scale transformative technology ventures.
Source: Noah Wire Services
- https://www.ewor.com – This website provides general information about EWOR and its mission to support entrepreneurs in creating impactful companies. It mentions key figures and the organization’s strategic focus.
- https://www.ewor.com/ideation-fellowship – This webpage details the EWOR Ideation Fellowship, which is designed for entrepreneurs still in the ideation phase, providing them with resources to launch successful companies.
- https://www.instagram.com/ewor_official/reel/DIgRDDhia0I/ – This Instagram reel promotes EWOR’s fellowship opportunities and encourages interested entrepreneurs to apply within a limited time frame.
- https://www.ewor.com/startup-templates – EWOR offers resources such as startup templates and co-founder search tools, supporting entrepreneurs in the early stages of business development.
- https://downloads.ewor.com/decks/fellowship-factsheet.pdf – This PDF provides a detailed overview of the EWOR Fellowship, including its duration, structure, and key benefits like network access and mentorship.
- https://www.noahwire.com – This source likely contains the original article discussing EWOR’s entrepreneurial fellowship and its significant financial backing for early-stage founders in Europe.
- https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMimgFBVV95cUxOS0VRYzc3eTA1ZV91Um9NRFZRRHBlcU8ySDFwaDVNc09iUWhXcE5LeDJsMUpScEhjSzBBRXkzamcwbjlTcldPUGlkNnRuRnNQaDI5T2JmMk16Qnh5ZHh4ZVBON0VPbXdsN25LSXFwT1QwQXl6dlFhd3g4WW5sWWVKXzU0TVZ2bDJkRDJjdEJsa0VoWHdJeHBsQlNR?oc=5&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en – Please view link – unable to able to access data
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
9
Notes:
No outdated information detected; references to current programmes (e.g., ‘since its inception in 2021’) and recent statements from participants. The narrative does not appear recycled from older articles or press releases, though direct verification of the initiative’s public launch announcements is unavailable.
Quotes check
Score:
8
Notes:
Quotes from Daniel Dippold (co-founder) and Jörgen Tveit (fellow) align with EWOR’s public-facing content and TechCrunch’s typical reporting scope. Unable to trace earliest online references for quotes, but plausibility of exclusivity increases score.
Source reliability
Score:
7
Notes:
Narrative originates from an unspecified Google News-linked article; TechCrunch is referenced as a secondary source. While TechCrunch lends credibility, primary article details (e.g., specific authors, direct links) are unavailable for full verification.
Plausability check
Score:
8
Notes:
Claims align with known startup accelerator models (e.g., equity-for-funding structures, mentorship networks). Specific details (e.g., €60m funding, 35 annual participants) are feasible but require corroboration with EWOR’s official communications or financial disclosures.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM
Summary:
The narrative presents internally consistent, plausible details about EWOR’s fellowship programme, with credible quotes and alignment with standard accelerator practices. Confidence is medium due to reliance on indirect sourcing (e.g., TechCrunch citation without direct links) and lack of independent financial verification.
