Startup accelerators in Europe: where each program runs, what it invests and what it charges

Europe has no single accelerator city. On our list, the programs on the continent run in Paris (STATION F's Founders Program), Garching near Munich (UnternehmerTUM), Delft (YES!Delft), Valencia (Lanzadera), Tallinn (Startup Wise Guys), and Amsterdam and Copenhagen (Rockstart and Startupbootcamp). EWOR runs its fellowship online from Berlin, and Wayra, Telefónica's venture arm, works mainly in Spain, Germany and the UK. The UK programs, most of them in London, have their own guide.

The deals differ more than the cities. EWOR, Startup Wise Guys and Rockstart invest. UnternehmerTUM takes no equity; YES!Delft takes no equity but charges a fee; STATION F rents you a desk. Below, each program in its own words, as we read its pages on 2 October 2026.

01The short answer, by city

• Paris: STATION F's Founders Program. A paid desk on the campus for 3 to 18 months.
• Garching, near Munich: UnternehmerTUM Accelerator. Three months, full-time, no equity. Next applications December 2026 to January 2027.
• Delft: YES!Delft. Three months plus years of support; a fee and a success fee, no equity.
• Berlin, and online: EWOR. Two fellowships that invest; virtual-first.
• Valencia: Lanzadera. In Spanish, several days a week in Valencia for at least six months.
• Tallinn: Startup Wise Guys. Mostly online, part of it in Tallinn.
• Amsterdam and Copenhagen: Rockstart. Amsterdam: Startupbootcamp.
• Renens, Switzerland: MassChallenge's Swiss hub.
• Several countries: Wayra, Google for Startups Accelerator, Antler and the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator.

Deadlines change every cohort. The live dates are in the Next deadlines strip in room 03.

02Programs that invest: EWOR, Startup Wise Guys, Wayra

EWOR runs two fellowships and invests in both:

A073EWOR Fellowship·Terms

“If accepted, you’ll receive €500k in funding right from the start. There’s no tuition fee.”

Our reading: Traction Fellowship: €500k from the start on an uncapped SAFE with MFN, no tuition fee. Ideation Fellowship: up to €300k (up to €65k at a €1.0M post-money cap, plus up to €235k uncapped SAFE) and a 3% equity tuition fee

Its FAQ (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026, splits the Traction Fellowship's €500k in two: "€110k at a €1.5M post-money cap", plus €390k "through an uncapped SAFE Note – or a similar instrument – with a MFN (most-favored-nation) clause." At the cap, €110,000 ÷ €1.5M ≈ 7.3% of the company, before the uncapped part converts. The Ideation Fellowship, for founders before traction, takes "3% equity as a tuition fee" if EWOR invests.

Where it is: "Up to €65k is being invested through EWOR GmbH, Berlin, our operational entity running the EWOR Startup Academy." The program itself is mostly online: "The fellowships are virtual, but include regular in-person gatherings around the world, up to two months of co-working each year at scenic spots, a two-month San Francisco residency, and invite-only events." You don't have to move your company either: "No, you don't need to change your current incorporation." EWOR reviews applications on a rolling basis; its stated reply time is in the table. EWOR on the list.

Startup Wise Guys runs most of its flagship accelerator online. Its flagship page, read on 2 October 2026: "80% of the program content will take place online, and 20% will be conducted in person in Tallinn, Estonia and another European hub to be announced soon." It works with B2B startups only (its words). It invests and states a program cost; both numbers, with the arithmetic, are in how much equity accelerators take. Startup Wise Guys on the list.

Wayra is no longer an accelerator in the usual sense. Its about page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026: "Originally launched as a startup accelerator, Wayra evolved in 2018 into Telefónica's Corporate Venture Capital, bringing together the Group's investment and open innovation initiatives". The same page says where: "Today, Wayra operates mainly in Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil, while also working across other markets in Europe and Latin America." It invests alongside venture firms; its ticket range is in the equity guide. Wayra on the list.

Rockstart, based in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, invests on a SAFE and charges a fee for its support package (equity guide; its focus is in deep tech accelerators). Rockstart on the list.

Rockstart's Bogotá office and Wayra's work in Brazil are in accelerators in Latin America.

03No equity: UnternehmerTUM, YES!Delft and EU-LAC

UnternehmerTUM Accelerator works from UnternehmerTUM's hub in Garching, near Munich. Its program page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026: "Unlike many other accelerators we have a founders-first approach without taking equity, allowing founders to retain full ownership and control of their companies." The same page offers money on top, for some: "Up to €250 K investment opportunity for top teams via UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators".

What it asks for is time: "it's required that all of your founder team members commit full-time to your start-up project during the 3-months period of the program." It wants a team, too: "a committed founder team with at least one full-time founder (no single founder)." On dates: Batch #20 runs from 3 September to 10 December 2026, and for Batch #21 the page gives an "Applications Phase: December 2026 - January 2027" and a program from March to June 2027. It invites the best 40 to 45 applicants to pitch and selects 20 to 30. It calls itself a deep tech B2B accelerator, so it also appears in SaaS accelerators. UnternehmerTUM on the list.

YES!Delft, affiliated with TU Delft, takes no equity but charges:

A091YES!Delft Accelerator·Terms

“The participation fee is €3,500 excl. VAT per team and a success fee of €25k triggered at €1 million in additional annual revenue.”

Our reading: No equity; €3,500 (excl. VAT) participation fee per team plus a €25k success fee triggered at €1 million in additional annual revenue

Its accelerator page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026, explains the trade: "We commit for the long-term and don't take equity but work with a success fee." The program "is a three-month program followed by at least five years of support". It is for "Hardware and digital startups with a committed founding team that has a validated problem-solution fit, built a working prototype or MVP, has some traction in the market, and the potential to scale." The next cohort runs from 21 October 2026 to 5 February 2027 (its application deadline, 13 September, has passed); the program runs twice a year, and "registration is possible throughout the year." YES!Delft on the list.

EU-LAC Digital Accelerator takes a startup and a corporate partner applying together, from Europe, Latin America or the Caribbean. It is funded by the European Union, offers grants for a proof of concept and closes on 30 November 2026. Its open call is quoted in accelerators in Latin America. EU-LAC Digital Accelerator on the list.

Two more programs with European hubs say they take no equity: MassChallenge, with its hub in Renens, Switzerland, and Google for Startups Accelerator, which runs a Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Their quotes are in accelerators that take no equity. Pages on the list: MassChallenge, Google for Startups.

04A campus with a desk: STATION F

STATION F, in Paris, runs its own program on the campus. You pay for the desk:

A084STATION F — Founders Program·Cost

“Price: Starting from €259 / desk / month”

Our reading: From €259 per desk per month

Its in-house programs page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026, lists the Founders Program's terms as key features: "Duration: 3 to 18 months", "Format: Hybrid – minimum presence is required", "Language: French, English". It states no investment, only "a chance to receive funding from STATION F", and "Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis". The same page lists two other in-house programs, an AI program and a free program for founders from atypical or less privileged backgrounds, taught in French. Neither is on our list yet. STATION F Founders Program on the list.

05Spain: Lanzadera, in Spanish

Lanzadera, in Valencia, answers the foreign founder's question on its program page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026. In its words: "¿Puedo presentarme si no soy de España? Sí, pero deberás tener en cuenta que todo el contenido del programa es en español y que tendrás que desplazarte a Valencia varios días a la semana durante al menos 6 meses." In our translation: yes, you can apply from outside Spain, but the whole program is in Spanish and you'll travel to Valencia several days a week for at least six months.

The same FAQ asks for your full time ("necesitamos que dediques todo tu tiempo a tu empresa": we need you to give all your time to your company) and accepts a founder without a team yet. You don't need a company to apply: "Para presentar tu proyecto no es necesario que esté la S.L. constituida" (you don't need your S.L., a Spanish limited company, to be set up).

Lanzadera publishes no investment terms. Its investment page (opens in a new tab) says the money comes from elsewhere: "La inversión en Lanzadera, no viene exactamente de Lanzadera" (the investment at Lanzadera doesn't exactly come from Lanzadera), but from Angels, which "es parte de Marina de Empresas" (is part of Marina de Empresas) and supports Lanzadera's founders during the program. The program page names its backers as the "Ecosistema Marina de Empresas y Mercadona". Lanzadera on the list.

06Pan-European networks and the UK

• Startupbootcamp runs hybrid programs in Amsterdam (remote accelerators). Startupbootcamp on the list.
• Antler's locations page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026, lists a UK residency "Ran out of London", a Continental Europe program "Ran out of Berlin", and residencies in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm. Its US terms are in Antler vs Entrepreneur First. Antler on the list.
• The UK: Techstars London, Founders Factory, Seedcamp, Conception X and Entrepreneur First are quoted in accelerators in the UK. Seedcamp invests across Europe from London, and Conception X takes PhD researchers from European universities.

07Before you apply: what to check

The pages above answer different questions. Get each of these from the program's own page:

1. Which language? Lanzadera runs in Spanish. STATION F's Founders Program lists French and English.
2. How much time on site? Lanzadera asks for several days a week in Valencia, STATION F a "minimum presence", Startup Wise Guys a fifth of the program in person. EWOR is virtual-first, with a San Francisco residency.
3. Equity, a fee, or both? UnternehmerTUM takes no equity, and its page names no fee. YES!Delft takes a fee and a success fee. Rockstart and Startup Wise Guys invest and charge. EWOR's Ideation Fellowship takes equity as tuition. STATION F charges rent.
4. Can you apply alone? UnternehmerTUM says no single founder. Lanzadera accepts a founder without a team.
5. Do you need a company? Not at Lanzadera. EWOR says you don't need to change where your company is incorporated.
6. When? UnternehmerTUM's next window is December to January, EU-LAC closes on 30 November, YES!Delft takes registrations all year, and EWOR and STATION F review on a rolling basis.

If none of these fits, programs you can join from anywhere are in remote accelerators, and programs in other regions in accelerators outside the US. If you need cloud credits rather than a program, Scaleway's startup program says it especially welcomes startups going after the EU market; it and the other credits programs are in startup credits programs. Add the ones you pick to My launch with the + on each poster:

08How we checked

Every quote comes from the program's own pages, read on 2 October 2026: EWOR's FAQ, Startup Wise Guys' flagship page, Wayra's about page, UnternehmerTUM's program page, YES!Delft's accelerator page, STATION F's in-house programs page, Lanzadera's program and investment pages, and Antler's locations page. The Spanish translations are ours. The arithmetic uses only the numbers in the quotes. A program is in this guide when its own pages put it in a European city or country. We don't know acceptance rates or results, and we don't rank the programs. Terms and dates change between cohorts: read the program's current page before you apply. Each table row and poster shows the date of our last link check.

Nobody pays to be listed or to appear in a guide. Read how we check for the details.

09Questions

01

What are the startup accelerators in Europe?

On our list, outside the UK: STATION F's Founders Program in Paris, UnternehmerTUM near Munich, YES!Delft in Delft, Lanzadera in Valencia, Startup Wise Guys in Tallinn, Rockstart in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, Startupbootcamp in Amsterdam, and EWOR, a virtual-first fellowship run from Berlin. UK programs are in our UK guide.

02

Which European accelerators take no equity?

UnternehmerTUM says it takes no equity. YES!Delft takes no equity but charges a participation fee and a success fee. The EU-LAC Digital Accelerator is funded by the European Union and offers grants. MassChallenge and Google for Startups Accelerator, which run European hubs, also say they take no equity.

03

Do European accelerators run in English?

Most of the program pages we read are in English. Lanzadera's program is in Spanish, and STATION F's Founders Program lists French and English. Check the language on the program's own page before you apply.

04

Is Wayra still an accelerator?

Not in the usual sense. Its own about page says Wayra started as a startup accelerator and became Telefónica's corporate venture capital arm in 2018. It works mainly in Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil.