The last decade has brought technological innovation at a pace never seen before. Many young businesses are spearheading this innovation, and are ready to scale up to reach the next level. This presents new and fast-evolving legal challenges, which do not always fit the existing legal framework or which provide for new implications of the existing legal framework. Stibbe StartsUP launched in 2017 as a response to these challenges.
The initiative is a two-way process, mutually beneficial to both parties. Stibbe offers full-service legal advice to help you grow your business, at vastly reduced fees – or sometimes no fee at all. At the same time, Stibbe gains additional knowledge and experience from working on these novel and undefined legal challenges that every start-up faces in its market. In this way, Stibbe StartsUP contributes to our innovation, while also providing you with access to our wealth of in-depth legal expertise and experience.
Stibbe StartsUP is looking for candidates at the forefront of innovation. We expect you to be ready to take your product or service to the next level - so beyond the initial start-up idea and ready to start making things happen.
If selected, we will offer you a substantial number of hours of free or substantially reduced legal advice: our investment in your business.
If you are interested in Stibbe StartsUP, you can contact us via: startsup@stibbe.com
What does the programme provide?
Stibbe StartsUP has two main goals. Our first is all about you - we would like to help your start-up deal with legal issues at an early stage, allowing you to focus on the growth of your business. On the other hand, we also want to gain knowledge and experience in novel areas of law by collaborating with young and innovative start-ups involved in original and creative businesses, just like yours.
Stibbe StartsUP offers fast-growing start-ups a substantial number of hours of legal advice for a substantially reduced rate or without charge. We put together a customised package for each start-up based on its specific needs.
For example, we provide specialist advice on:
- Creating new legal models or solutions based on existing and developing legislation and regulations
- Regulatory issues (e.g. dealing with the Dutch financial regulator the AFM, administrative law or employment law issues)
- Critical negotiations (e.g. with regulators, contracting parties, governmental authorities or agencies)
- Urgent or unexpected matters (e.g. last-minute contractual issues, potential legal proceedings or claims)
- Drafting agreements and templates
- Intellectual property law
- Privacy law
We tailor our legal package together with you, to suit your specific needs and ensure we add value and help your start-up take the next big steps – in the right direction.
Selection - Does your business fit the programme?
We have 3 main focus points for selection of start-ups into our programme:
- the field of business in which a start-up operates is in line with our selected focus practice areas – climate and energy, sustainable mobility and financial innovation;
- the start-up should be beyond the initial start-up idea and growing towards a more advanced stage of development (scale-up); and
- the start-up faces legal challenges that align with our goal of mutual benefit (learning from each other).
Do you think your start-up matches this description? If yes, your business could be a great fit for our programme.
In the application process, we would like to get a better understanding of your business to help us assess whether our Stibbe StartsUP programme is right for your needs. For example, we focus on the questions such as:
- What are the main legal challenges your business faces now (and what legal issues do you expect to face in the future)?
- Which legal obstacles has your business overcome so far? Did you receive legal assistance in that regard, and if so, who was your legal partner?
- What are your average turnover figures at the moment?
- Who are your main customers and business relations, and what is the nature of your collaboration with them?
- What outlook and prospects do you foresee for your business in the next three years? What is your focus, and what do you hope to achieve within that timeframe?
Sign up
Does your startup fit our selection criteria as described above? Then sign up now.