CFAs: Transition Accelerator Programme 2024

The eight-month accelerator programme provides a comprehensive training, granting and advisory framework to support the successful implementation of digital transformation and revenue-focused projects.

These teams will benefit from personalized advisory, one-on-one needs assessments, training in human centered design, strategic planning and audience research, “Ask-me-anything” sessions, guest speaker engagements, workshops, and mentoring from industry experts. IPI’s innovation department has developed a network of active professionals and experts across all types of journalism that each participant is able to take advantage of.

The Transition Accelerator will provide training and coaching for two types of projects:

• A technology or audience-centric concept or product for news gathering, creating or distributing journalistic work, and monetisation; or
• A journalism-focused digital transition business project or other innovation that will help make the media outlet sustainable, competitive and of value to its community and European media landscape.

Funding Information

• Applicants to the Transition Accelerator can request grants up to €20,000. Selected projects will sign a grant agreement with IPI to receive the funds. The disbursement of funds will be made in three installments:
  • IPI will transfer to the recipient 60 percent of the Transition Accelerator grant amount upon signing this contract.
  • 25 percent of the grant amount will be transferred to the media upon presentation of the second project design review in the fourth month of the accelerator and verification of completion of all key activities set out in their governing framework.
  • The final 15 percent will be provided on the approval of a one-page narrative document measuring the success of their project over the eight-month accelerator, a review of how it contributed to the overall growth of their newsroom, and a review of how the grant was spent and what their newsroom’s future plans are.

Why apply?

• The accelerator has been designed to support European newsrooms in transition that have a clear and defined understanding of the challenge they seek to address. They will support participants in finding and implementing the best solution to this challenge through a core grant scheme funding a specific digital transformation project, comprehensive one-on-one needs assessment by IPI’s in-house experts and a tailored accelerator programme that will train, coach and guide grantees toward self-sustained resilience and successful implementation of this project.

Who can apply?

• The Transition Accelerator is open to established digital or legacy media wanting to accelerate the digital transition of their journalism, products, business model or revenues to become viable and competitive. Newsrooms must be based in Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden or Ukraine. Newsrooms are welcome to apply if they have:
  • a clearly identified challenge or problem they want to solve;
  • a plan on how to address the challenge or problem they face;
  • recently conducted audience research or other market testing activities;
  • willingness and a plan to reach out to new audiences with quality content.
  • To apply, you must have a team of two staff members declared that will participate through the accelerator’s duration of eight months.

For more information, visit IPI.