The ‘Tower of Babel’-like plethora of languages and the creativity of lawyers has daunted European business since the days of the Roman Empire because it is hard to launch a business when the rules of the game change every few hundred miles. Large corporations have managed to compete with their American counterparts thanks to their critical mass, enabling them to have economies of scale in terms of distribution networks, visibility and lobbying power, but options for small companies are much more limited.

The impact of these challenges on the potential of Technology startups and Venture Capital as an asset class is even more obvious; in fast moving markets the window of opportunity is short and competitors from countries like Denmark, Ireland or Spain rarely have a chance against U.S. rivals in the battle for the global market of customers, investors and employee talent.

Startupbootcamp has been changing the future outlook for startups in these countries and across Europe by providing the necessary tools to rapidly and successfully launch into the global market, thereafter enabling them to grow across Europe and to sell in other countries.

In Startupbootcamp acceleration is key. From day one the teams must hit the ground running and undergo constant transformation in order to shape, build and sell their initiatives. The competition doesn’t rest and neither does Startupbootcamp. With the necessary assets, an integrated schedule and effective instruction, teams can expect to be ready for investment in three months.

Startupbootcamp is about collaboration. The programme has established a vibrant technology ecosystem that joins over 150 entrepreneurs, investors and business angels from around the world, offering not only access to mentorship but close links to the global tech sector, giving teams the ability to sell in other countries and to grow across Europe. Startupbootcamp is ultimately changing the panorama from a fragmented environment to a single European market of opportunities where investors can seek to meet and invest in any startup in the Startupbootcamp network.

Now, we are also going to to make all participating startups more investable by establishing a practical, more universal means of connecting startups to investors with open source contracts. The Incorporation and Shareholder agreements will be available online through a wiki-typle platform over the next weeks in order to constantly reassess and give feedback regarding their ability to take into account the nature of quickly growing startups and to simplify the due diligence process. Through joint contracts under UK law and incorporation in London, Startupbootcamp startups are easily investable for BAs and VCs from any country

Our press release explains further:

Startupbootcamp announces open sourcing of contracts in order to promote seed investment across Europe with simple, straightforward terms 

Venture Capital Firms and Business Angel seed investors from across Europe will finally be able to invest beyond their local markets thanks to the expansion of the first pan-European accelerator program, Startupbootcamp. Investors attending the 5 annual demo days in Berlin, Copenhagen, Dublin, and Madrid (and soon Berlin and London), will now have the opportunity to meet at least 10 startups per program per year.

In November 2010, the first edition of the accelerator program in Copenhagen saw 10 startups incorporated across Europe and Latin America, with founders from more than 12 nationalities, presenting to over 100 investors after 3 months of mentoring and support. “Most have already covered significant founding milestones, but we’ve had to make a huge effort to support agreements between entrepreneurs and investors due to the diversity of paperwork involving startups incorporated around the world” says Alex Farcet, Managing Director of Copenhagen.

In 2011 the Startupbootcamp program will extend to Madrid and Dublin, and in 2012 to Berlin and London in order to reach a more diverse talent pool. The accelerator is incorporating the startups under UK law, giving them an efficient market edge and flexibility.

“Unified contracts under the common and simple UK law will make the 50 annual Startupbootcamp startup teams investable by Business Angels and Venture Capital Firms across Europe and beyond” says Eoghan Jennings, Managing Director of Dublin, and former CFO at XING during their IPO.  “We have open sourced the Incorporation and Shareholder agreements templates, and will make them available (and commentable) online for the free benefit of any interested startup”.

Startupbootcamp’s contracts have been specifically designed to accommodate the expected fast growth of the startups and to facilitate investment decisions before and after demo day by simplifying the bureaucratic due diligence.

“When a startups in a European country needs to raise a round of over 2 million EUR they end up flying to London. Participants in Startupbootcamp have that goal so it makes a lot of sense to incorporate in the UK ahead of time” says Luis Rivera, Managing Director of Madrid. “Startups will set up subsidiaries or establish their headquarters in countries where they wish to operate”.

On May15th applications will close for the ten participating teams in the Madrid program from June to September, and they will be incorporated in London (or Delaware for US based teams) because these jurisdictions offer the most security and flexibility to businesses under corporate law.

So if you want to scale your startup within Europe, you should definitely check out our mentors and consider what Startupbootcamp can offer, applications for Summer in Madrid close May 15th, and those for Copenhagen (Fall 2011) and Dublin (Winter 2012) will follow shortly