Powering audience and revenue growth by design
The Transition Accelerator supports European media organisations towards digital transformation and audience-centred solutions.
Need more info?
Sign up for info session on July 17, 2026 11:00 CEST.
Or reach out to: [email protected].
The Basics
IPI’s Transition Accelerator is an eight-month programme for established, editorially independent media in Europe seeking to grow and strategise through investment in audience relationships, revenue generation, and technology adoption.
Following two successful editions, the programme builds on its model, integrating funding, design sprints, interdisciplinary workshops from AI use to community needs, expert coaching, training, and peer learning with the goal of increasing long-term viability and competitiveness in the media’s respective markets and niches.
○ Why apply?
If you’re a media leader in Europe asking yourself what a thriving organisational strategy looks like in the face of disruptive forces like AI, the consumer market, and opportunities for revenue, then this call is for you.
The Transition Accelerator is designed for media committed to rethinking strategy, a defined challenge they are solving for, and a clear understanding of their audience. It is for editorially independent investigative media, local newsrooms, and national and regional media. Each media experience an interdisciplinary approach to innovation, management, and product development training.
The programme supports organisations with identifying and implementing practical solutions to challenges in product, audience engagement, business and management, unique to their organisation and market.
Participants receive funding, coaching, and guidance from the leading media experts to test ideas, strengthen service to their audiences, and build more sustainable organisations.
○ How does it work?
Selected media organisations receive eight months of support and grants to develop a transformative product. Projects may focus on developing or improving a revenue model, news products, workflows, or management strategy that helps maintain competitiveness in the face of disruption.
The programme combines needs assessments, structured online learning, live expert sessions, an in-person bootcamp in Vienna, group and one-on-one coaching, and peer exchange.
Learn about our 2024 Transition Accelerator participants and their success stories.
○ Application Process and Timeline
Apply by submitting the application form. Applicants can save the application form by clicking “save” and returning to it until they have completed it and are ready to submit. They will be emailed a link to their application, which they can return to until 9 September 2026 [23:59, CEST]. Once the application is submitted, it can no longer be edited.
Only applications in English received via the Jotform platform by the stated date and time will be considered. You will receive an email confirmation of your submission.
If you’re not sure about your eligibility, contact innovation[a]ipi.media or sign up for our upcoming info session.
Past experience shows how important it is to build a diverse cohort, and we encourage you to reach out if this sounds interesting to you!
○ Key activities
Up to €25,000 to deliver your project.
Three-day, in-person bootcamp in Vienna with 2-3 members from each media in the accelerator.
A needs assessment and audit of your organisation’s business, audience and product maturity to define your problem statement and identify how to tailor programme support to your team.
Weekly hands-on workshops and training on tools and skills designed to be used beyond the accelerator, focused on management, designing for audience engagement, product development, developing new journalism formats, approaches to revenue generation and performance tracking, and adoption of AI in workflows, business, and ideation.
One-on-one personalised advisory services bespoke to the needs of your newsroom, with flexible, on-demand industry experts as coaches during the accelerator.
Access to a networking platform with the current cohort, expert coaches, all programme alumni and a network of media innovators.
Access to an e-learning platform with training modules and recordings from industry leaders. Monthly “Ask-Me-Anything” sessions allow attendees to directly pose questions to industry experts.
Group coaching sessions with peers developing similar projects.
Application details
Selection criteria and eligibility
- Applicants must be a media organization based in one of the following countries: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine.
- Your organisation must be an established media organisation, registered for at least 5 years, pursuing investment in pivots, growth, and development of your organisation, with a clear and defined understanding of the challenge you seek to address.
- Your media organisation is independent from political or business interests, is consumer-facing, and investing in an audience-centric concept or product for news gathering, creating or distributing journalistic work, and monetisation; or innovation in your media’s business model that will help make the company sustainable, competitive and of value to its community and European media landscape.
- You must submit a plan that identifies the specific challenge you want to resolve, the target audience you serve, the logic of your approach, and the articulation of a clear and well-defined understanding of the problem you are seeking to solve.
- Your organisation should have recently conducted audience research or other market testing activities and be able to establish this in your application.
- Your media should demonstrate a willingness to find ways to serve existing or new audiences based on evidence, explore and implement new ideas, tools and technologies to enhance storytelling and audience engagement, while learning from experts and each other.
- You will be asked to describe your vision of success with metrics to measure against, including a plan for sustainability, once the project period is completed and the resources needed to implement the project. Note: It is anticipated that this project will change or evolve during the accelerator period.
- You will be asked to compile a budget for using the funds granted through the accelerator programme, describing the financial resources you will need for your project to succeed (e.g. technology costs, web development, human resources, costs required to reach audiences)
- You should have a commitment to quality, independent journalism that serves the public interest, and a track record of this.
- Your media should have a clear vision for the future of their organisation, including plans for how they will grow, expand and/or adapt.
- You should have the capacity to carry out the innovations you will identify, the support of senior management for the digital transition and the time to work through the accelerator programme to develop and implement lasting solutions.
- Your organisation must have a team of at least two individuals who are willing to commit to accelerator activities throughout the eight months (this is estimated at a time commitment of four hours per week, divided between the team of two).
- You should have diversity in each transition leadership team, including representatives of different skill sets and parts of the media organisation.
Selection process
Applications will undergo an initial pre-screening to review basic application requirements. Applicants may be asked to supply additional information during this phase. Applications that do not meet basic requirements will not be forwarded to the jury.
An independent, international jury will select the projects to participate in the accelerator. The jury will be made up of individuals with a deep understanding of innovation in independent newsrooms, particularly in Europe, including product directors, media managers, media founders, and managing editors from across Europe.
Any attempt by any donor or partner organisation to interfere in the decisions of the jury will be immediately reported to the rest of the jury. Jury members will be required to declare any possible conflicts of interest, and will be asked to recuse themselves from any judgment where such conflicts may interfere with independence or the public perception of independence. These recusals will be recorded.
After jury selection, the selected teams will go through a process to check their proposed budget and project. The IPI project manager, together with the coach assigned to the team, will streamline the project and ensure its feasibility, including ensuring the implementation of any recommendations from the independent jury.
Successful projects will be asked to sign a Grant Agreement with IPI.
Funding details
The Transition Accelerator funds may cover any percentage of a project’s costs, up to 100 per cent of the total. Co-funding is encouraged but not mandatory. Applicants must declare any existing sources of funding on their application.
Applicants to the Transition Accelerator can request grants up to €25,000 (agreed-upon sum may be less). Selected projects will sign a grant agreement with IPI to receive the funds. The disbursement of funds will be made in three instalments:
- IPI will transfer to the recipient 60 per cent of the Transition Accelerator grant amount upon signing the Grant Agreement.
- 25 per cent of the grant amount will be transferred to the media upon presentation of the mid-term 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 per cent 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.
The Transition Accelerator grant may be used to cover nearly any costs necessary for the production of their proposed project. This includes, but is not limited to, programmatic and operational costs (e.g., travel costs to the annual Media Innovation Festival), software, web development, human resources, research- and production-related costs, travel costs and translation costs. Hardware costs (e.g., computers and video cameras) are not eligible.
Application process and timeline
Apply by submitting the application form. Applicants can save the application form by clicking “save” and return to it until they have completed it and are ready to submit. They will be emailed a link to their application, which they can return to until September 9, 2026 [23:59, CEST]. Once the application is submitted, it can no longer be edited.
Only applications in English received via the Jotform platform by the stated date and time will be considered. You will receive an email confirmation of your submission.
If you’re not sure about your eligibility, contact [email protected] or sign up for our upcoming info session on July 17 at 11:00 CEST.
ℹ️ Please note that we only accept applications in English via Jotform.
Use of AI for application process
This application asks whether you have used AI tools to help create or enhance your submission.
Please answer honestly, as this information is for transparency purposes only and helps us fairly evaluate your pitch. It does not automatically disqualify your application.
Transition Accelerator cohort:
➤ 2024 programme cycle
Associació Verificat, Spain
BIC Media
Capital – published by Economedia, Bulgaria
Delfi, UAB, Lithuania
Investigace, Czech Republic
Investigative Journalism Center Siena, Lithuania
Novaya Gazeta Baltia, Estonia
Oslobođenje Servisi d.o.o., Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pismo Foundation, Poland
Re:Baltica, Latvia
Recorder, Romania
Solomon, Greece
The Project Syndicate, O.P.S, Czech Republic
TuŁódź Sp. z o.o., Poland
➤ 2023 programme cycle
Hromadske Radio, Ukraine
Wydawnictwo Zwierciadlo, Poland
LUPA Crime and Corruption Reporting Network, Montenegro
Átlátszó Erdély, Romania
RADAR Magazine, Italy
Apulum Forum Association, Romania
Lazy Women, France
El Orden Mundial, Spain
Večer Mediji, Slovenia
Outriders, Poland
English Club, North Macedonia
Maldita.es, Spain
Andererseits, Austria
Press Freedom Foundation, Serbia
Iașul Nostru (Our Iași), Romania
FAQ
What is the Accelerator
Run by IPI, the Transition Accelerator supports the development of revenue-focused audience-centred solutions by providing funding, coaching and training. It will bring newsrooms along a media-centric design and innovation journey, cutting across interdisciplinary themes in management, product, business development, and audience. Over an eight-month period, the project team will work closely with each newsroom to coach and provide the necessary resources to implement its transformational business or product strategy. 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 business development and revenue generation strategy, or other innovation, that will help make the media outlet sustainable, competitive, and of value to its community and the European media landscape.
Which activities does the Accelerator include?
The Accelerator consists of five main activities:
- An introductory meeting: Here, all selected participants will exchange information in a video conference about their projects, set and share audience, newsroom and business goals, and meet the accelerator trainers, coaches, and other experts.
- Structured learning phase: A series of training sessions, consisting of pre-recorded online lectures by prominent media experts and subsequent “Ask-Me-Anything” sessions with the trainers. The lectures will cover:
- Human-centred design for journalism
- Practical audience research methods
- Product management
- AI adoption for strategy, product lifecycles, workflows and research.
- Generating revenue across services, consumer and content products in media
- Reader revenue: the tech and methods behind memberships and donations.
- Audience engagement – from surveys and comments to subscribers, and CRM management
- How to pitch your media to partners, funders, and investors
- One-on-one coaching: Accelerator participants will be offered one-on-one coaching sessions with experienced newsroom practitioners and trainers. Each participant will be paired with coaches who are able to provide the most value in terms of skills and knowledge gaps identified in the needs assessment. The participants are expected to attend coaching sessions biweekly.
- Guest speakers: Throughout the accelerator, participants will be exposed to the latest innovations in journalism delivery and business diversification from experienced leaders in the industry.
- 3-day in-person bootcamp in Vienna: Participants take part in audience and design sprints with experts and network among the cohort.
Additionally, accelerator participants will be expected to produce and publish a promotional or descriptive post or story that describes what went right or wrong in their innovation journey. This can be in the form of an individual or a series of stories, podcasts, videos, newsletters or other journalistic formats. The journalistic product can be related to the accelerator in one of two ways:
- It highlights how the organisation applied the learning on innovation in their newsroom;
- An editorial informing readers about the changes the organisation went through in the accelerator, explaining how these changes will better serve its audiences.
Who can apply for the Accelerator?
The Transition Accelerator is open to independent media registered for at least five years and rethinking audience and revenue strategies to become viable and competitive in the face of disruption. Newsrooms must be registered and based in Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, 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 who will participate through the accelerator’s duration of eight months.
How long does the Accelerator last?
The Transition Accelerator takes place over eight months. Participants will have the opportunity to extend their mentorship and will remain involved in the network.
How many projects will be selected?
Up to 18 newsrooms will be selected to participate in the Transition Accelerator.
The Transition Accelerator, part of Media Innovation Europe (MIE) is co-funded by the European Union.
