About SEC

Startup Excellence Club (SEC) is an exclusive club and a platform to explore the European startup market at an early stage of development. SEC operates as a closed initiative only for carefully selected Startuppers. We want to evaluate and support the most promising projects and match them with private capital and experience of the entrepreneurs involved.

SEC is targeted at technology start-ups selected on the basis of investors’ expectations and a detailed business, technological and personal verification of start-ups carried out by the programme organisers.

SEC is carried out under the guidance of recognized experts in acceleration and validation of startups (with years of experience in the organization of leading acceleration programs in CEE), experienced business angels, representatives of leading venture capital funds and trusted legal advisors, who take care of the formal side of the project and legal evaluation of startups.

Acceleration program aims to ensure that a young company and its employees are well organized and on the best path to success, and are equipped with the necessary knowledge and instruments. For startups SEC is not only a source of necessary knowledge, but also a new space for valuable contacts.The program is a chance to acquire the so-called smart capital. 

For Startups

The selected start-ups will undergo a two-month acceleration programme involving experts from SHP, DZP, venture capital fund representatives and external mentors.

Workshop sessions will be organised in the form of video conferences and meetings at DZP’s headquarters in order to allow Investors to become thoroughly familiar with startups’ technology, product and what is more, with the team that creates it. 

The scope of the sessions will be outlined in advance, however based on the needs and identified problems, the individual acceleration “paths” will be created for participants.

For startups, not only is SEC a source of necessary knowledge, but also a new space for valuable contacts and drawing on the experience of colleagues who have already succeeded. The programme is a chance to take a leap in development and acquire so-called smart capital. Also, in the case of an actual investment, legal advisors will provide representation and support on very preferential terms for startups securing financing.

Project executed by

StartUpHub Logo

The Startup Hub Poland Foundation has been building the startup ecosystem in Poland & CEE for 8 years now. To date, we have incubated, accelerated and scaled about 200 Polish and international startups. The foundation has relied on three critical pillars to achieve this success.

Its extended team of 25+ mentors & consultants with top quality international education and experience. Its strong connections with 50+ corporates, most of whom are multinationals with their CEE HQs in Poland. And, its longstanding partnerships with 70+ Polish and international VC partners.

In the past two years alone, Startup Hub Poland has helped 31 international startups successfully expand to Poland and the region, with a majority of them having struck deals with the foundation’s corporate and VC partners and a few winning grants of EUR 2M+ each.

DZP is Poland’s largest independent law firm. It comprises a team of over 170 experts advising within nine practices and over 40 specialisations. DZP’s experts are regularly awarded and recommended in industry rankings; the superior value of DZP is its unique relationship with private clients for whom an adviser is more than just an advisor. DZP has a project called DZP Future through which it engages in the development of the Polish start-up market, supporting all the entities involved. DZP represents capital providers and founders of the most promising start-ups, advises them and associates capital with technology. The firm is involved in the development of the start-up environment by participating in acceleration programmes, hackathons etc. Through SEC, DZP wants to put its long-standing motto ‘more than just the law’ into practice. DZP wants to provide selected clientelle with access to reliable and verified ventures that can be a superb investment and minimise the risks associated with capital commitment in young, growing companies developed in accordance with the start-up methodology.