Last updated: 31 July 2024

The CASSINI Business Accelerator (the “Action”) is an action of the European Commission (EC) and European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), within the broader CASSINI initiative, to improve the ability of start-up and scale-up companies, whose products and/or business models build on EU space technologies or space data, to achieve sustained commercial growth by strengthening their business development and go-to-market capabilities, improving their access to risk financing, and expanding their networks to other markets and larger companies.

The Action is a recurrent six-month space tech acceleration programme (the “Accelerator”) offering top-level business and investment coaching, training, events and non-dilutive funding to improve start-up and scale-up companies their ability to achieve sustained commercial growth in upstream and downstream space applications.

The Action is implemented by Verhaert New Products & Services NV (Hogenakkerhoekstraat 21, 9150 Kruibeke, Belgium), Plug & Play Germany GmbH (Pfaffenwaldring 19, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany), Civitta International OÜ (Riia Street 24a, 51010 Tartu, Estonia), and Stockholm Innovation & Growth AB (Östermalmsgatan 26A, 114 26 Stockholm, Sweden) (jointly referred to as the “Organisers”), on behalf and under contract with the European Commission (EC) and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA).

Please read these terms & conditions carefully before participating in the Action by:

• Accessing or using the Action’s website (the “Website”);
• Registering for and attending, virtually or in-person, the Action’s events (the “Events”);
• Applying for the acceleration programme in response to the Action’s open call (the “Open Call”);
   

1. Acknowledgment

These Terms & Conditions governing your participation in the Action are an agreement between you and the Organiser. These Terms & Conditions set out the rights and obligations of all visitors, attendees, applicants, and others regarding their participation in the Action.

Your participation in the Action, is conditioned on your acceptance of and compliance with these Terms & Conditions. These Terms & Conditions apply to all individuals who access the Website, who register for and attend the Events, who prepare and submit an application in response to the Open Call on behalf of a company, or who otherwise seek to participate or already participate in the Action, and to all companies that apply in response to the Open Call.

By participating in the Action, you agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions. If you disagree with any part of these Terms & Conditions then you may not participate in the Action.

You confirm that you are of legal adult age (18 years or older), and you are legally capable of entering into binding contracts.

2. Website

This section of the Terms & Conditions sets out the terms and conditions on which you can access or use the CASSINI Business Accelerator’s website hosted at https://www.cassini.eu/accelerator (the “Website”).

By accessing or using the Website you are taken to have agreed to be bound by and comply with the following terms and conditions, which govern our relationship with you in relation to this website.

2.1 Disclaimer

The Organisers maintain the Website with the goal to make it available and keep its content correct and up-to-date. If errors are brought to their attention, they will try to fix them. However, the Website and its contents are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.

The Organisers do not make warranties, whether expressed or implied, as to the functionality, availability, performance, reliability, security, or compatibility of the Website. You acknowledge that the Organisers are not liable for the consequences of any interruptions or errors of the Website.

The Organisers also do not make warranties, whether express or implied, concerning the accuracy, availability, timeliness, completeness, reliability or suitability of the Website’s content. You acknowledge that the Organisers are not liable for the consequences of any inaccuracies in the Website’s content, whether material or not.

The Organisers also do not warrant that the Website, its servers, its downloadable content, and e-mails sent from its servers, are free of viruses or other harmful components.

2.2 External Links

The Website may contain external links to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by the Organisers.

The Organisers have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party websites or services. You acknowledge and agree that when you access such websites and -services on the internet, you do so at your own risk. You further acknowledge and agree that the Organisers shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such websites or services.

The Website contains external links to third-party websites or services for convenience only, and the inclusion of such links does not imply the Organiser’s endorsement of those websites or services, nor endorsement of the content, goods, or services available thereon or therethrough, nor endorsement of the organisations owning or controlling them.

You are strongly advised to read the terms and conditions and privacy policies of any third-party websites or services that you visit.

2.3 Copyright Notice

The European Union is the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights embedded in the Website and its content. This includes, but is not limited to, the copyrights on the design, layout, graphics, audio and video fragments, code and text.

Unless indicated otherwise, you may not print, copy, reuse, distribute, or otherwise reproduce any part of the copyrighted materials, without prior written permission of the respective copyright holders.

You may request permission to use the copyrighted materials or report abuse of copyrights by e-mail at hello@accelerator.cassini.eu or via the contact form on the website.

2.4 Personal Data Protection

When accessing or using the Website, we process the Internet Protocol address (IP address) or other identifier of the device you use for that as an essential technical requirement to provide the Website. This data might be saved in the log files of the web servers for up to 24 months.

By accessing and using the Website, you agree to this processing of this personal data.

For any other uses of this personal data, explicit consent will be requested.

Please read the full Privacy Statement to learn what personal data is collected when you access and use the Website, for which purpose it is used, and how it is processed.

3. Events

This section of the Terms & Conditions sets out the terms and conditions on which you can register for and attend, virtually or in-person, the CASSINI Business Accelerator’s events (the “Events”).

The Events hosted by the Organisers can include but are not limited to:

• Events to inform you about the acceleration programme and the open call for applications
• Events to support you in applying for the acceleration programme
• Events to connect you with individuals and companies enrolled in the acceleration programme

The Events will be announced on the Website. The announcement contains the date, time, location, registration process, attendance mode, and other relevant information about the event.

By registering for and/or attending an Event, you are taken to have agreed to be bound by and comply with the following terms and conditions, which govern our relationship with you in relation to this event.

3.1 Registration

An Event may require prior registration, require registration upon entrance, or not require any registration.

In case an Event requires registration, you will need to submit the registration form in order to attend. The Organisers reserve the right to accept or reject your registration for the Event. Only upon receipt of the acceptance of your registration, you are allowed to attend the Event.

3.2 Attendance

An Event may allow virtual attendance, in-person attendance, or both.

3.3 Code of Conduct

The Organisers, the EC, and the EUSPA, are dedicated to providing a discrimination- and harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of race, creed, colour, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, physical appearance, body size, disability, or marital status. We do not tolerate discrimination and harassment of individuals involved in any form.

Any individual participating in an Event and violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from participation in the Action at the discretion of the Organisers.

3.4 Personal Data Protection

When registering for an Event, you will be required to share personal data about yourself for the purposes of contacting you regarding your registration for and attendance of the Event. These data may be used in aggregated form for statistical purposes to improve the Action.

All personal data that you share as part of your registration will not be shared with any parties other than a limited number of staff employed by the Organisers, the EC, the EUSPA, solely for the purposes stated above.

By accepting these Terms & Conditions, you agree that your personal data shared as part of your registration can be processed for the purposes stated above.

For any other uses of this personal data, explicit consent is requested during the registration.

Please read the full Privacy Statement (https://www.cassini.eu/accelerator/privacy-statement-event) to learn what personal data is collected when you register for and attend an Event, for which purpose it is used, and how it is processed.

3.5 Confidentiality

The following non-disclosure agreement is entered into by and between the Organisers, on behalf of each company participating in the Accelerator (the “Discloser”) and any individual person participating in a closed Event (the “Receiver”), hereby agreeing to these Terms & Conditions.

When attending an event, you can receive sensitive information about a company participating in the Accelerator. As Receiver, you are required to treat as Confidential Information, all information contained in the Discloser’s pitch deck or pitch presentation and that is marked as “Confidential” by the Discloser. This Confidential Information can include but is not limited to information about the Discloser’s business, business model, markets, market segments, customers, competitors, technology, product, marketing, sales, personnel, revenue, cost, profit and loss, cash flow, financial statements, investments, capitalisation table, and any business or technical plans and forecasts, as well as information about individuals such as the educational and professional background of the founding team and the gender and diversity of the founding team.

As Receiver you will treat the Confidential Information with a reasonable degree of care and safeguards.

As Receiver you shall not disclose, without the prior written approval of the Discloser, the information in any form to any third party, make or permit to be made copies or other reproductions of the information, or make any commercial use of the information.

The Confidential Information will be treated as confidential by Receiver for a period of 5 years from the date of the Event or until the Discloser provides a written notice that the information should no longer be treated as confidential or until the information becomes public knowledge.

This non-disclosure article does not apply and will no longer apply to any information that was known to Receiver, without an obligation to keep it confidential, before it was disclosed to Receiver by Discloser; and is or becomes lawfully available to Receiver from another source than Discloser.

4. Open Call

The Accelerator accepts participating companies based on an open application and selection process.

For each edition of the Accelerator, the Organisers will publish an Open Call for applications on the Website. The announcement contains the eligibility criteria, information on and timeline of the application and selection process, and other relevant information for interested companies.

The fourth edition of the Accelerator runs from 1 November 2024 until 30 April 2025.

The Open Call for the fourth edition of the Accelerator runs from 19 August 2024 until 30 September 2024, with the following key dates to consider:

• The application period runs from 19 August 2024 until 30 September 2024
• The selection of participating companies is announced at latest on 18 October 2024

The dates stated in this document are tentative and can be subject to change due to decisions of the EC or the EUSPA or due to force majeure.

4.1 Eligibility Criteria

Application for and participation in the Accelerator is restricted to companies that are in compliance with the following eligibility criteria:

• The company must be a legal entity that is registered and established in a Member State of the European Union, Iceland, or Norway.
• The company must meet the EU definition of a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) (https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/smes/sme-definition_en)
• The company must be owned and controlled in the EU or the countries participating in the EU Space Programme. This means that more than 50% of the capital and more than 50% of the voting rights of the company must be directly or indirectly detained by ultimate beneficial owners that have the nationality of an EU Member State, Iceland, or Norway.

In order to be eligible, a company must be in compliance with the eligibility criteria at the time of application and remain compliant throughout the duration of the Open Call.

Only applications from eligible companies will be considered for selection.

4.2 Application Process

Interested companies that are eligible can apply to participate in the Accelerator through completing and submitting the application form accessible through the Website.

Before submitting an application to participate in the Accelerator on behalf of your company:

• You will be required to confirm that you have the authority to apply on behalf of the company and entering into binding agreements therefore
• You will be required to read and accept these Terms & Conditions
• You will be required to read the Privacy Statement

Once you have submitted the application form on behalf of the applying company (the “Applicant”), the answers to the questions constitute the entire application (the “Application”). Additional information or documents provided through other means will not be considered. If multiple applications are submitted for the same company, only the last submission will be considered.

In case of technical difficulties with the application process, please contact us to resolve the issue.

4.3 Selection Process

For each Open Call, a Selection Committee whose members have adequate expertise and experience will be appointed by the Organisers. The committee will include representatives of the EC and EUSPA, and may include representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA).

All eligible Applications will be reviewed, evaluated, and scored individually by the members of the Selection Committee based on the following selection criteria and their associated weighting factors:

• Relevance of the company’s product and customer need to the objectives of CASSINI Business Accelerator and EU Space Programme (25%)
• Quality and clarity of the company’s value proposition (product-market fit, size of market, benefits/costs, alternatives/competition, and market potential) (25%) 
• Relevance of the company’s go-to-market plan (25%)
• Multidisciplinarity and diversity of the team (technical expertise, business expertise, a mix of gender, background and origin, etc.) (25%)

The Selection Committee will jointly select up to 20 Applicants to participate in the Accelerator, based on the ranking of all scored Applications and after careful deliberation. Applications should have a minimum score of 50% to be considered for selection.

In order to safeguard the European Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security, avoiding EU dependence on components, materials, processes from non-EU countries and the risk of access restrictions for such items e.g. through export control regulations, or other reason, the Contracting Authority may reject the Application of an Applicant for security reasons during the selection process.

After the selection process, all Applicants will be notified of the decision regarding their application by email to the person who submitted the application. While the process is usually shorter, this can take up to one month after the end of the application period.

• Companies that are selected will be contacted by the Organisers to sign the necessary documents and start the onboarding process.
• Companies that are not selected can ask the Organisers for feedback on their application and the reasons why their application was not selected.

4.4 Equal treatment and opportunities

The Organisers will ensure an equal treatment of and equal opportunities for all Applicants.

The Organisers will avoid potential or existing conflicts of interests. If any member of the Selection Committee has any stake or interest in or relation to any Applicants, she/he shall be replaced by another person in both the individual review, evaluation, and scoring, and the joint deliberation of the Applications of the concerned companies.

4.5 Declaration of commitment

Companies who are given the opportunity to participate in the CASSINI Business Accelerator receive a unique opportunity to strengthen their business development and go-to-market capabilities, improve their access to risk financing, and expand their networks to other markets and larger companies.

Upon submitting an application for the Accelerator, the Applicant commits to participate actively in the six-month acceleration programme in case its Application is selected.

4.6 Personal data protection

When submitting an application, you will be required to share personal data about yourself for the purposes of contacting you regarding the application and selection process. When submitting an application, you will also be required to share personal data about yourself and other individuals working for the company for the purposes of reviewing and evaluating your application. These data may be used in aggregated and anonymised form for statistical purposes to report on and improve the Action.

All personal data that you share as part of your application will not be shared with any parties other than a limited number of staff employed by the Organisers, the EC, the EUSPA, and external members of the Selection Committee, solely for the purposes stated above.

By accepting these Terms & Conditions, you agree that your personal data shared as part of your application can be processed for the purposes stated above; and confirm that, for any personal data of other individuals shared as part of your application, you have obtained their explicit permission to share that personal data so that it can be processed for the purposes stated above.

For any other uses of this personal data, explicit consent is requested during the application process.

Please read the full Privacy Statement to learn what personal data is collected when you apply for the Accelerator in response to the Open Call, for which purpose it is used, and how it is processed.

4.7 Confidentiality

When submitting an application, you will be required to share sensitive information about your company and the people working for the company. All information contained in your Application and its content,  included in the answers to the questions in the application form, the pitch deck and the motivation video, and that is marked as “Confidential”, will be treated as Confidential Information. This Confidential Information can include but is not limited to information about your company’s business, business model, markets, segments, customers, competitors, technology, product, marketing, sales, personnel, revenue, cost, profit and loss, cash flow, financial statements, investments, capitalisation table, and any business or technical plans and forecasts, as well as information about individuals such as the educational and professional background of the founding team and the gender and diversity of the founding team.

The Organisers will treat the Confidential Information with a reasonable degree of care and safeguards. However, you understand and agree that the submission of this information is at your own risk. You should therefore carefully consider what you want to share based on its relevance to your business.

The Organisers will restrict access to the Confidential Information to employees, contractors and third parties as is reasonably required and ensure that those people are bound by similar nondisclosure restrictions.

The Confidential Information will be made accessible to at least the following parties:

• The employees and contractors employed by the Organisers, the EC, and the EUSPA, who are responsible for the implementation and management of the Action;
• The internal and external members of the Selection Committee, who are responsible for reviewing and evaluating your application to participate in the Accelerator;

The Confidential Information can further be included in public reporting about the Action, but only in the form of aggregated and anonymised statistics, so that companies and individuals cannot be identified.

The Organisers will not disclose, without the prior written approval of the Applicant, the information in any form to any third party other than those stated above, make or permit to be made copies or other reproductions of the information, or make any commercial use of the information.

The Confidential Information will be treated as confidential for a period of 5 years from the application date or until you provide a written notice that the information should no longer be treated as confidential or until the information becomes public knowledge.

This non-disclosure article does not apply and will no longer apply to any information that was known to Organisers, without an obligation to keep it confidential, before it was disclosed to Organisers by Applicant; and is or becomes lawfully available to Organisers from another source than Applicant.

4.8 Intellectual property

The Organisers shall own no right, title and interest in and to all intellectual property created by you and any third parties and shared as part of your Application, including without limitation, all logos, trademarks, names, ideas, concepts, creative materials, promotional materials, advertising, and graphics, including all copyrights and proprietary rights therein, and any inventions and discoveries first conceived or developed, whether or not protected by patent, trade secret or copyright. 

 

5. General Clauses

5.1 Indemnification

As a condition of your participation in the Action, you agree to indemnify us, our subcontractors and our successors and assigns for all damages, costs, expenses and other liabilities, including but not limited to legal fees and expenses, relating to any claim arising out of your participation in the Action, or your breach of these Terms & Conditions and any applicable law or the rights of another person or party.

This indemnification survives the duration of your participation in the Action and applies to claims arising both before and after your participation in the Action.

5.2 Disclaimer of warranties

Your participation in the Action is at your sole risk. The Action and its Website, Events, and Open Call, are provided without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied.

5.3 Limitation of liability

You agree that the Organisers shall not be liable for any damages that you might incur as a result of participating in the Action.

The Organisers are not liable for any indirect, punitive, special, incidental or consequential damage (including, but not limited to, loss of business, revenue, profits, use, privacy, data, goodwill or other economic advantage) through your participation in the Action, however it arises, whether for breach of contract or in tort, even if the possibility of such damage has been previously advised of. 

The Organisers are not liable for any claims by a third party in tort or contract, including, but not limited, to any misleading statements made and/or incorporated into any content provided by third parties, such as the participating companies their pitch deck and pitch presentation.

5.4 Exclusions

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so some or all of the above exclusions and limitations may not apply to you.

5.5 Termination

The Organisers may terminate or suspend your participation in the Action in written form (by letter or e-mail), without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation if you breach these Terms & Conditions. If you wish to terminate or suspend your participation in the Action, you may do so in written form (by letter or e-mail). The termination or suspension will take effect immediately after the termination letter or e-mail has been sent. Upon termination, your right to participate in the Action will cease immediately. During suspension, your right to participate in the Action will cease temporarily.

The Organisers shall not be liable to you or any third party for any claims or damages arising out of any termination or suspension or any other actions taken in connection therewith.

All provisions of the Terms & Conditions which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, disclaimers, indemnifications, limitations of liability, data protection clauses and non-disclosure clauses.

5.6 Applicable law

These Terms & Conditions and any dispute or claim arising from them shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of Belgium, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

5.7 Severability & waiver

If any provision of these Terms & Conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, the other provisions will remain in effect.

Failure to excercise any right of these Terms & Conditions will not be considered a waiver of those rights.

5.8 Changes

The Organisers reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms & Conditions at any time. If a revision is material, the Organisers will make reasonable efforts to provide at least 30 days’ notice prior to any new terms and conditions taking effect.

By continuing to participate in the Action after those revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by and comply with the revised terms and conditions. If you do not agree to the revised terms and conditions, in whole or in part, it is your sole responsibility to discontinue your participation in the Action.

5.9 Contact us

If you have any questions about the CASSINI Business Accelerator or these Terms & Conditions, please contact us by e-mail at hello@accelerator.cassini.eu or via the contact form on the website.