We bet you're going to want to take a closer look at bookmaker Williams Hill's startup accelerator

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There's a plethora of options in Europe for early-stage companies for raising initial capital and obtaining help in kickstarting the business, startup accelerators being one of them.

There's certainly no shortage of those in these parts either, although corporate-run accelerators are still relatively few and far between - even though it was listed as a trend in a recent industry report.

Yet corporate startup accelerators - whether the choose to run their own programs or partner instead with an existing accelerator - can often bring something to the table many smaller organisations can not (resources, scale, highly targeted mentorship, spacious offices in great locations, etc.).

The latest corporate-run accelerator to launch in Europe certainly attracted attention when it was announced last month: William Hill, one of the largest bookmakers in the UK with roots dating back more than 80 years, launched WHLabs, billing it as the global betting industry’s first ever accelerator.

A collaboration between William Hill and tech entrepreneur Stuart Marks’ investment fund L Marks, WHLabs was brought to life to identify and develop technology innovations for the gambling industry, which is booming in markets across the globe.

WHLabs is offering up to eight selected startups to participate in a 12-week accelerator programme that runs from September to December 2015. Each startup will be supported by an initial investment of £25,000 and office space for the duration of the programme in either William Hill’s digital innovation hub in Shoreditch (London) or in its Tel Aviv office.

Also included are access to William Hill's APIs, business advice and mentorship from William Hill executives and third-party entrepreneurs, and the opportunity to win a further up to £150,000 investment. The terms and conditions can be found here.

There are only five days left for startups to join the program, so don't wait much longer if you're interested - particularly startups focused on betting/gambling, but also entertainment, marketing, big data and advertising should take a closer look.

William Hill says it's had over 200 applications from all over the globe already, but there's still time to apply before the 26 July cut-off date.

Also worth noting: applications are open to startups at any stage of development. To apply, click here.

Featured image credit: Mikey / Flickr