What’s it all about?Accelerators! What are they, what do they do, and should you join one (if you are an early stage founder/entrepreneur). I speak With Max Ter Horst, entrepreneur and Managing Partner at Rockstart cleantech accelerator about what they are all about, how they help, and what part an accelerator plays in the cleantech ecosystem. I also speak to a couple of founders who have been through the programm to get their thoughts. Luuk Veeken, CEO and Founder of Dexter Energy Services, and Pedro Pinto, Co-Founder and CEO of Fibersail. I hope you enjoy the episode.About Max Ter Horst: Max is Managing Partner of Rockstart’s Energy Fund, offering early stage startups access to capital, market, expertise and community through a customized accelerator program and follow-on investments up to series B.Max is Dutch and based in Amsterdam. He has been active in renewable energy since 2003, when he helped Essent (currently RWE) to establish their wind business in Germany. As Director at EWT, the largest Dutch wind turbine manufacturer, he was responsible for corporate finance, business development and strategy. Further, he was co-founder and CEO of e-kite, a Dutch start-up which developed kite power systems.Before entering the renewable energy sector, Max worked several years at McKinsey, as Engagement Manager. He holds MSc degrees in Chemical Engineering at Delft University of Technology, Business Administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam and an MBA from INSEAD.About Rockstart:Rockstart is an early stage investor that empowers purpose-driven founders across three domains: Energy, AgriFood and Emerging Technologies. Rockstart Energy funds and empowers founders building scalable innovations leveraging emerging technologies and new business models, which are key to slowing down the pace of climate change. The fund was closed in 2022 at €27m.Rockstart has invested in more than 280 startups and its alumni value to date is more than $1bn. Rockstart is an international team of 45+ professionals dedicated to empowering purpose-driven founders to become scalable and drive positive change on a global scale. The company has offices in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Bogota.Social links: Rockstart website: https://rockstart.com/Rockstart on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rockstartRockstart on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockstart/Rockstart on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RockstartAcceleratorRockstart on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rockstart/EPISODE LINKS Rockstart Energy Application Energy - Rockstart (99+) Luuk Veeken | LinkedIn(99+) Pedro Pinto | LinkedInFollow us online, write a review (please) or subscribeI'm very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter. If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.Twitter https://twitter.com/CleantechleaderFacebook https://www.facebook.com/DavidHuntCleantechGuideInstagram https://www.instagram.com/davidhuntcleantech/