Marketing automation for startup incubators and accelerators
Your programme is only as strong as the founders who apply and the partners who back it. Maggie, your AI CMO, writes application calls, founder spotlights and demo day posts for LinkedIn, your website and Google Business, and you approve every one.
Free to start · No credit card · 30 free posts
Used by 600+ users and trusted by teams at
aeglesriphal.com
moonlakespa.com
shop.theteagroup.com
clo100.com
logtrics.io
mymorez.com
nextidal.com
otisapp.com
storaitelling.com
theheatpumps.co.uk
web-translations.com
exposeai.tech
orielipo.com
whitelabelcrowd.fund
elliptic.co
med.moonlakespa.com
netdex.co.il
orawellness.uk
reenest.com
syngage.ai
thepenthouseliving.com
zengolf.studio
imaintain.uk
rebuildingsociety.com
aurasocial.world
goaimex.com
moneyparents.com
newgenrenewables.uk
osmosisai.co
saunders.ac
teeza.app
thursdayclub.com
Why incubators and accelerators struggle to keep their marketing going
A small programme team runs workshops, finds mentors, chases sponsors and supports a cohort of founders. Telling the world about it comes last.
Application windows that open quietly
The next intake opens, a post goes out on launch day and then the team is busy with the current cohort. Strong founders hear about it after the deadline, or not at all.
Great founders nobody hears about
Every cohort has founders with real stories: a first customer, a pivot, a round closed. Without spotlights, sponsors and future applicants never see what the programme actually does.
Demo day needs a room full of investors
Founders count on demo day. Filling it with the right investors and partners takes weeks of posts, and those weeks are the busiest of the programme.
Sponsors and funders want proof
Corporate partners, universities and public funders want to see the programme's reach. A news page that stopped after the last cohort makes renewal conversations harder.
Applications open in four weeks, and the campaign is already queued.
It's Monday, halfway through the cohort. Applications for the next intake open in four weeks, demo day is in six, and the only marketing plan is a note on the whiteboard that says "LinkedIn??".
You enter the programme's website into cmo.so. Maggie reads it and writes your brand profile: the sectors and stages you back, what founders get from the programme, your mentors and partners, how you differ from other programmes nearby, and the direct, founder-to-founder way you talk. You correct one thing: you dropped the equity stake this year, and the programme is now free to join.
By Tuesday the drafts are waiting, each with a picture in the programme's look: a blog post on what you look for in an application, a countdown series for LinkedIn, three founder spotlights from the current cohort, a mentor spotlight on a partner who has been coaching on pricing, and a Google Business event for demo day with a button to register. You approve most from your phone and ask one founder to check their quote.
The posts go out at the times you set for each channel, spread across the six weeks, and each comes back with its link. While you're running pitch practice, Maggie is already drafting the demo day recap, and Search Console in cmo.so shows which posts bring founders to the application page.
A marketing assistant who follows the programme calendar
Each of those problems has an answer, and the programme team still decides what goes out under its name.
Application campaigns, start to finish
Launch posts, countdowns, deadline reminders and guides to applying, planned around each intake and queued weeks ahead, so the call keeps going out while you run the cohort.
Application callsFounder and mentor spotlights
A steady rota of posts on the founders in each cohort and the mentors who support them, written from their websites and your notes, and checked before they go out.
SpotlightsDemo day that fills the room
Invitation posts for investors and partners, Google Business events with a button to register, then a recap and a post for each team once the day is done.
Demo dayGuides founders search for
Blog posts on how to apply, what accelerators look for, what support you offer and how your programme works, written for Google and for AI answers and published to your website.
Blog on autopilotLinkedIn for partners and funders
Posts on cohort milestones, alumni news and the partners behind the programme, so sponsors and funders see the programme working all year.
LinkedInEvery programme in one account
Running an incubator, an accelerator and a sector programme? Each with its own website gets its own brand profile, channels, schedule and approvals.
Several programmesYour marketing team, in your pocket
Real screens from the cmo.so app on iPhone.
From your programme's website to a full intake campaign in four steps
Enter your website
Maggie reads it and drafts the programme's brand profile in minutes.
Check your profile
Correct your sectors, stages and terms, add your intake dates and choose your channels.
Review the drafts
Application calls, spotlights and demo day posts arrive with pictures. Approve, edit or skip each one.
Let them go out
Approved posts go out at each channel's times and every one comes back with its link.
Why not just…
The usual ways programmes try to reach founders and partners, and where each one runs out.
…ask the founders to post about it?
Founders will share a demo day photo, but they are busy building companies. The programme still needs its own steady voice, and Maggie writes it every week.
…rely on startup listing sites?
Listings help founders find a deadline, but they show every programme side by side in the same format. Your own website and LinkedIn are where you explain what makes yours different.
…hire a marketing manager?
A full-time marketing hire in the UK costs around £3,000 a month before tools, often a big share of a programme budget. Maggie writes and publishes every week from £15 a month.
…write it with ChatGPT before each intake?
You still brief it every time, check dates, make pictures and post by hand, and it doesn't know your cohort. Maggie remembers your programme and runs the schedule.
Cut the £5,900/mo marketing bill to £15/mo
Everything a marketing team does, done by Maggie.
| What needs doing | Without cmo.so | With cmo.so |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time marketing hire | £3,000/mo | Included |
| SEO and AI search (GEO) agency | £1,000/mo | Included |
| Content writer, AI-assisted | £500/mo | Included |
| Social media manager, freelance | £800/mo | Included |
| Designed pictures for every post | £300/mo | Included |
| SEO and GEO softwareRank tracking, site audits, AI visibility | £250/mo | Included |
| AI writing and image tools | £50/mo | Included |
| Working hours | Office hours | 24/7 |
| Total per month | £5,900+ | From £15/mo |
Typical UK costs for a small business in 2026, with AI already cutting freelance rates. Estimates only; your own quotes will vary.
- 5 social posts, 30 once verified
- 15 Maggie messages a day
- Upgrade any time
- 12 posts a day
- 150 Maggie messages a day
- All channels
- 96 posts a day
- 1,000 Maggie messages a day
- All channels
Per website, billed monthly. Blog and social posts share one allowance; your best plan sets how much you can talk to Maggie across all your websites.
Marketing automation for startup incubators and accelerators: your questions
Still unsure?
What is marketing automation for startup incubators and accelerators?
It's software that does the repeating work of promoting a programme: planning posts around intakes and demo days, writing application calls and founder spotlights, making pictures and publishing on schedule.
With cmo.so, Maggie does all of it from your programme's website, and nothing goes out until your team approves it.
How do incubators and accelerators get more applications online?
Incubators and accelerators get more applications online by announcing each intake early, explaining clearly who the programme is for, and showing real founders and results from past cohorts.
Maggie writes those posts for LinkedIn, Google Business and your website, queues them across the application window, and Search Console shows which posts bring founders to your application page.
How much does marketing automation cost for an accelerator?
There's a free plan with no card needed. Paid plans are per website and billed monthly: Air at £15 a month covers two posts a day, which suits a single programme, and Pro at £45 a month suits a programme posting on several channels.
Founding members get lower prices for good on every plan until 1 January 2027. You can cancel any time.
Which channels should incubators and accelerators start with?
Most programmes start with LinkedIn, because founders, mentors, investors and corporate partners all use it, plus their own website for application guides and cohort news.
Google Business helps if you run a physical hub or host demo day in your own space, and YouTube is in beta for recorded pitches. Each channel has its own posting times and queue.
Can cmo.so write a spotlight for every founder in the cohort?
Yes. Add each startup's website or a few notes, and Maggie writes a spotlight on the problem they solve, what they've done on the programme and who they want to meet.
You check each one first and can ask the founder to approve their quote before it goes out.
Will posts stay in step with our intake dates?
Yes, they will. Add your intake and demo day dates to the brand profile, and posts are planned and queued around them, from launch to final reminder.
If a deadline moves, update the profile and edit the queued posts, or pause a channel while you sort it out.
Does it manage applications or contact investors?
No. It writes and publishes posts that send people to your application or registration page; it doesn't process applications, send emails or contact investors directly.
Founders and investors still apply or register through the tools you already use.
Can cmo.so help us show impact to sponsors and funders?
It helps by keeping a steady public record of the programme: cohort announcements, founder milestones, alumni news and events, all on your website and LinkedIn.
Each post comes back with its link, and Search Console shows which ones bring people to your website, so you can point partners to them.
We run several programmes. Can cmo.so handle them all?
Yes. If each programme has its own website, add them all to one account and each gets its own brand profile, channels, schedule and approvals.
If they share one website, Maggie can plan posts for each programme from the same brand profile.
Is it safe to let AI post for our programme?
Yes, because nothing goes out until it's approved. Approvals are on by default, and you can keep them on for every channel or let a channel you trust run on autopilot.
Social channels connect through each platform's official sign-in, so cmo.so never sees your passwords, and cmo.so never sells or rents your data.
Can our programme team share the work?
Yes. In Me → Team you can add people and choose what each can see or change, using presets such as editor or manager.
So the programme manager can approve spotlights while the head of partnerships keeps an eye on posts for sponsors.
Have the next intake campaign ready before applications open
Enter your programme's website. Your brand profile and first week of application calls and founder spotlights are ready in minutes, and nothing goes out until you approve it.
- Free plan, no card needed
- You approve every post
- Cancel any time