Q&A

1. What is PCH Accelerator?


• Our Mission is to use PCH’s world-class services to help create great brands and product companies. (remember, every great brand and Fortune 500 company began as a startup!)
• PCH has helped many top brands bring innovative hardware products to market. We are now helping selected hardware startups get a competitive edge. Entrepreneurs with a hardware startup idea, and VC funding, can go from concept to production and be delivered to the market faster, more optimized, with the insights and experience of a Fortune 500 market leader. 
• Participants in the program benefit from the same skills, resources and processes used by the world’s leading brands.
• Many entrepreneurs start out with an idea, and their main question is “how are we going to sell this product?” But there is a lot of preparation and hard work to be done to get to this point. PCH helps them to develop a product that is designed for cost, designed for manufacturing, and designed for shipping – towards production and the revenue stream. Entrepreneurs have the ability to create a presentable product, while keeping their own brand ID. PCH enables success.
  
  
2. What exactly is PCH Accelerator offering that other incubators and similar programs can’t?
   
   • PCH Accelerator is a unique program in that we only cater for innovative, difficult-to-do hardware products, not software which is where most incubators typically focus.
   • Accelerator participants also have access to PCH’s unique business model. PCH as a business has enabled the disruption of traditional supply chain models, contributing to the success of many of the world’s largest technology brands.
   • PCH has dramatically shortened the time-to-market for a wide range of consumer technology products. We offer our customers a unique end-to-end integrated supply chain solution, from product design through to a fulfillment business that offers customers the fastest development time with the longest global reach and the leanest supply chain inventories.
   • PCH Accelerator uses the same model that has led to the success of large companies, and tailors the same services for early hardware startups.
   • Successful participants will enter a rigorous and carefully managed process comprising seven basic competence areas (see diagram on Accelerator Model page)
     
     
3. How many participants do you have in the program?
• Due to proprietary and intellectual property concerns we don’t disclose who or how many participants we have in the program until we launch their product.
• We only accept a select number of elite, best-of-the-best ideas.
• Our pilot product, Lark, offers an insight into the kind of innovative product we can bring to market.
  
  
4. What is the funding model of the program?
• PCH Accelerator does not actually fund anyone. We expect that participants will already have VC funding in place before applying to join our program. We are not a funding or incubator program.
• In return for a percentage of equity, participants will benefit from access to PCH’s well-established, experienced supply chain ecosystem that is utilized by the world’s best brands
• Participants can also benefit from preferred rates that are usually only available to large companies.
  
  
5. What percentage will you ask for?
• The percentage will be decided on a case by case basis.
• This will be in line with other programs on the market.
  
  
6. How long will it take to bring the products to market?
   • We believe two years is an appropriate time to allow us to help develop participants’ product line beyond just one product launch. We are in this for the long-term together. We expect that most products will be ready much sooner than the available two years, but this depends on each individual case.
     
     
7. Will you have a US presence?
   • We will have a program director based in Silicon Valley, and a team in the US and Shenzhen to support.
     
     
8. How do I apply to join the Accelerator program?
• There is a simple application form here.
  Applicants with venture capital funding just have to answer 15 simple questions and they may be eligible to join the program.
  

We look forward to talking to entrepreneurs with a great idea, with funding, who are passionate about design, passionate about their brand, and passionate about their consumer experience!