Depop was born here.
Founded at H-FARM in 2011 and built in a small house in the Seed Village, the same houses you work from in Phase 02. Acquired by Etsy in 2021 for $1.625 billion.
House 03, Seed Village
Why H-FARM
We’ve been backing founders since 2005.
50+ H-ACK editions.
H-ACK is our hackathon brand. Two days, a team you may have met that morning, and something built from nothing. It’s where a lot of teams meet before they apply.
H-ACK at Ca’ Tron
Italy’s first startup law started here.
In September 2012 the government task force presented Restart, Italia! at Ca’ Tron. H-FARM’s founder was one of its twelve authors, and the report fed into Italy’s first law on innovative startups.
Restart, Italia!, 13 September 2012
€40M+invested in startups
150+startups supported
#1startup hub in Italy, Financial Times
#5for mentoring services in Europe, Financial Times
Student founders
Then we started backing students too.
Students like you built these companies while studying at H-FARM College. They started where you are now. Flip a card to see what they built.
Chiara SchettinoRosso
Filippo Casellato, Sebastiano Felicetti, Umberto BolzoniEtrash
Michele MangiacottiEmerals
Anna KazazaevaScout IP
Aurora TascaRazor Padel
Roberto Oliva, Luciano BurattinTimeless Club
Not an H-FARM College student, but working on something? The Student-Founder Program is only for the College. Bring your idea to Storming Pizza instead: five startups pitch every month, and it’s open to everyone.
stormingpizza@h-farm.com
Before you apply
It starts with a team and a starting idea.
Before the Pre-Accelerator, you need two things: your team, which you find at hackathons and Company Challenges, and your starting idea, which you find on your own time.
Hackathons & Company Challenges
Find your team- 1Learn how to work on a real problem, fast
- 2Work in a team and see who you work well with
- 3Build a portfolio of things you’ve actually made
- !Not the place to find your startup idea
What you build there belongs to H-FARM College or to the client company, and you sign an agreement saying so when you sign up. Don’t bring a challenge project into the Student-Founder Program.
Your free time
Find your idea- 1List the problems you care about
- 2Rank them with the Problem Discovery Tool
- 3Pick one with your team
- 4Apply to the Pre-Accelerator
The Problem Discovery Tool is free and walks you through a structured way to choose a problem worth working on.
The program
Then three phases take you from idea to company.
At each one, H-FARM decides. Completing a phase doesn’t get you into the next one: it gets you the right to apply.
Phase 01
Pre-Accelerator
3 monthsFreeNo equity. Nothing to sign.
Three months to shape your idea, test it against real customers and come out with a business case you can defend.
You get
- 12 modules with founders, investors and operators from the startup ecosystem
- A method to shape your idea and test it against real customers
- A business case you can defend
Who can apply
- You’re an H-FARM College student, applying alone or with a team of up to 4 people
- If you apply as a team, at least one of you is an H-FARM College student
- We select up to 10 teams per edition. If you’re in your third year, you get priority
What happens after
- In three months you may find out that a startup isn’t for you. That’s a good outcome too
- If you want to keep going, you can apply to Phase 02
Next, once you’ve completed the Pre-Accelerator
Phase 02
Backing
6 months2%An option H-FARM may use, only if you incorporate.
Six months on campus with desks, mentorship and the H-FARM name next to yours, while you find out if this can be a company.
You get
- Up to 4 desks in the Seed Village on campus, free for 6 months
- Up to 12 mentorship meetings with the Startup Center, when you ask for them
- A meeting with H-FARM’s leadership
- First-line legal guidance and introductions across the H-FARM ecosystem
- The H-FARM name next to yours: “selected for the H-FARM Student-Founder Program”
H-FARM asks
- If you incorporate a company on the same project within 18 months of the end of Phase 02, H-FARM can choose to take 2% at incorporation
- If you never incorporate, you owe nothing
- A short written update every month, and at least two days a week on campus for each of you with a desk
Who can apply
- Your team lead completed the Pre-Accelerator, in any edition and with any idea
- Your team lead is an H-FARM College student, and everyone on your team is 18 or older
How to apply
- Download the agreement and fill in Annex A (your project) and Annex B (your team)
- Sign it with your whole team and upload it in the form during an application window
- It only takes effect if H-FARM admits you. If you’re not admitted, you owe nothing
Then, while you’re in Phase 02, if you ask for it
Phase 03
Investment & Incorporation
+6 months+3%5% in total at incorporation.
An investment sized to what your company needs, six more months on campus and help to incorporate.
You get
- An investment from H-FARM in cash and/or in kind, sized to what your company needs
- 6 more months of desks on campus
- Help preparing the documents to incorporate
- Introductions to H-FARM’s lawyer, notary and accountant
- The option to register your company’s legal address at H-FARM
H-FARM asks
- 3% more, on top of the 2%: H-FARM’s total stake at incorporation is 5%
- The 5% doesn’t change with the size of the investment
How you get there
- Ask by the end of month 5 of Phase 02. There’s no public form: the Startup Center sends it to you while you’re in Phase 02
- H-FARM’s Investment Committee answers by the end of month 6
- If it’s a yes, you receive a written proposal with the investment. You can accept or decline it
Dates
Each phase opens on set dates. Don’t miss yours.
Open a phase to see its dates. If you apply outside these windows, your application won’t be reviewed.
Right now
Phase 01 — Pre-AcceleratorLoading dates…
You can apply twice a year. Each edition takes up to 10 teams.
| Edition | Apply | Program |
|---|
Phase 02 — BackingLoading dates…
You can apply in the first two weeks of October, January, April and July. We review every application from the same window together, not first come first served. If you’re in, you start on the same day as everyone admitted with you.
| Apply | Answer by | Your cohort starts |
|---|
Phase 03 — Investment & IncorporationNo public window. You ask for it by the end of your fifth month in Phase 02.
Your deadlines count from the day your cohort starts.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| End of month 5 | You ask for Phase 03. If you don’t, you keep your desks until the end of month 6. |
| End of month 6 | H-FARM answers. If it’s a yes, you receive a written proposal. |
| If you accept | Your desks continue for another 6 months while you incorporate. |
H-FARM in your cap table
If you get there, H-FARM in your cap table is a signal.
Investors, customers and partners read an H-FARM stake as a sign that someone who has backed founders since 2005 looked closely at your team and said yes. Depop was born in a small house on this campus.
The terms are light on purpose. The percentages and the rules are fixed in the agreement you sign when you apply to Phase 02; only the size of the Phase 03 investment is decided later, case by case.
5%maximum, at incorporation
2% for Phase 02+3% for Phase 03
If you stop after Phase 02, H-FARM holds at most 2%. If you never incorporate, 0%.
- No board seat
- No liquidation preference
- No drag-along
- No non-compete
- The idea and the IP stay yours
- 10% off H-FARM services after incorporation
Four things to know
Four rules. No surprises.
The idea is yours. In every phase.
It moves into your company only when you incorporate. H-FARM becomes a shareholder of the company, not the owner of the idea.
The 2% exists only if a company is born.
If you stop before, you owe H-FARM nothing: desks, mentorship and support stay on us. If you incorporate, the 2% applies to the same project for 18 months, even if H-FARM chooses not to invest.
No step is automatic.
At every phase, H-FARM decides, and won’t explain the outcome. The Pre-Accelerator is your only way in.
One official contact.
For this program and for building a startup with H-FARM, the only official channel is startupcenter@h-farm.com. Professors and other H-FARM people can help you along the way, but decisions and commitments only go through the Startup Center.
FAQ
Still have a question?
I don’t have an idea yet. Where do I start?
Join a hackathon or a Company Challenge to find people you want to build with. Then, on your own time, use the Problem Discovery Tool to pick a problem worth solving. When you have a team and a problem, apply to the Pre-Accelerator.
Can I use an idea from a hackathon or a Company Challenge?
No. What you build in hackathons and Company Challenges belongs to H-FARM College or to the client company. The project you bring into the program has to be your own.
Can people from outside H-FARM College join my team?
Yes. At least one team member must be an H-FARM College student, and that person is the team lead and our only contact. To sign the Phase 02 agreement, everyone on the team must be 18 or older.
Does the Pre-Accelerator cost anything or take equity?
No. It’s free, you sign nothing and H-FARM takes no equity.
I did the Pre-Accelerator last year with a different idea. Can I apply to Phase 02?
Yes. Completing the Pre-Accelerator doesn’t expire and isn’t tied to the project you worked on. What counts is that your team lead completed it.
Why do we sign the agreement when we apply, not when we’re admitted?
So that everything is clear before you start, including the terms of Phase 03. The agreement only takes effect if H-FARM countersigns it, which happens when you’re admitted. If you’re not admitted, it has no effect and you owe nothing.
When do we hear back on Phase 02, and when do we start?
Within 20 working days of the window closing. If you’re in, you start on the first day of the following month, together with everyone admitted from the same window. The exact dates are in the table above.
What exactly does the 2% mean?
If, within 18 months of the end of Phase 02, you incorporate a company on the same project you described in Annex A, H-FARM can choose to take 2% of it. You tell us before you incorporate, and we tell you whether we’ll use the option. If you don’t incorporate, or you start something outside that project, there’s nothing to give.
How much does H-FARM invest in Phase 03?
It depends on what your company needs. You might need capital, or you might need services and introductions more. H-FARM decides case by case and puts it in a written proposal that you can accept or decline. What H-FARM asks in return doesn’t change: 3% more, 5% in total.
Who pays to incorporate the company?
The company does: notary and incorporation costs, and the accountant afterwards. H-FARM introduces you to the professionals it works with and helps you prepare the documents.
Can we say H-FARM is backing us?
From the start of Phase 02 you can say you were “selected for the H-FARM Student-Founder Program”. You can’t say H-FARM funds or invests in you until H-FARM is actually a shareholder, and you can’t use H-FARM logos without written permission.
My idea came out of a course or my thesis. Is it still mine?
Yes. Projects developed in H-FARM College courses, theses or labs remain yours. Your professor can stay on as a supervisor if they want to, but your contact for the program is always the Startup Center.
Your turn.
The form asks which phase you’re applying for. If your question isn’t answered on this page, write to startupcenter@h-farm.com.