Techstars
Encyclopedia
TechStars is a mentorship-driven seed stage investment fund founded in 2006 by David Cohen, Brad Feld, Jared Polis
and David Brown. TechStars provides seed funding for teams forming web/software companies. The organization holds programs in Boulder, Colorado
, Boston, Massachusetts, Seattle, Washington
and New York City, New York. The companies are given access to mentors and work with venture capital
firms and angel investors as they look to raise a round of funding.
On 31 January 2011 TechStars Network was launched, linking 22 similar programs internationally.
and David Brown. TechStars provides the seed funding and three month mentorship program in exchange for a flat 6 percent stake in each company. Companies receive up to $18,000 in seed funding. To date 70% of Techstars companies have either raised outside funding or become financially self-sustaining, which is an extremely favorable success rate relative to other seed funds, such as YCombinator.
In February 2011, TechStars partnered with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
. The Foundation provided Techstars with $200,000 in funding to build software utilized by the TechStars Network. This will go towards building and managing a unified application processing and tracking system for seed accelerator
programs, dozens of which are part of TechStars Network.
Jared Polis
Jared Schutz Polis is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
and David Brown. TechStars provides seed funding for teams forming web/software companies. The organization holds programs in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, Boston, Massachusetts, Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
and New York City, New York. The companies are given access to mentors and work with venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firms and angel investors as they look to raise a round of funding.
On 31 January 2011 TechStars Network was launched, linking 22 similar programs internationally.
History
TechStars was founded in 2006, and is led by David Cohen, Brad Feld, Jared PolisJared Polis
Jared Schutz Polis is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
and David Brown. TechStars provides the seed funding and three month mentorship program in exchange for a flat 6 percent stake in each company. Companies receive up to $18,000 in seed funding. To date 70% of Techstars companies have either raised outside funding or become financially self-sustaining, which is an extremely favorable success rate relative to other seed funds, such as YCombinator.
In February 2011, TechStars partnered with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a non-profit foundation based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has an asset base of $2 billion...
. The Foundation provided Techstars with $200,000 in funding to build software utilized by the TechStars Network. This will go towards building and managing a unified application processing and tracking system for seed accelerator
Seed accelerator
Seed Accelerator is a type of startup incubator but has 3 major differences. 1) they begin with a cohort intake process whereby they accept applications for entry and pick a set number per round. 2) they make an equity investment in the startups, usually sub $150,000 USD, but often sub $20,000 range...
programs, dozens of which are part of TechStars Network.