Seedcamp, often described as the European equivalent to Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator, has announced a partnership with Facebook to help support socially-oriented startups. The partnership means that Seedcamp participants get product, technical, and design support, as well as early access to beta programs on the Facebook platform.
Seedcamp says that many of its companies are already work closely with the Facebook platform, and the closer partnership will give those startups a boost. As Seedcamp notes on its blog, “Since many of our portfolio companies use parts of Facebook’s offerings in their setup, talking to the folks working on these products directly will be a massive help. In addition, an early look at what is coming up will enable Seedcamp companies to be ahead of the market and to play with cool new features first.”
This deal between Facebook and Seedcamp follows a similar one struck last summer between Facebook and Y Combinator. At one time, Facebook did operate its own startup program, the fbFund, but the company announced it had no plans to keep it active.
Seedcamp also announced that Facebook would become a Platinum Seedcamp Founder Sponsor.
Seedcamp offers a three-month mentorship program and a 50,000 investment in exchange for a 8-10% minority stake. Seedcamp holds events all over the world – Mini Seedcamps – as well as Seedcamp Week each fall in London. Once focused on holding events in Europe, Seedcamp has expanded to the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
