Techstars San Diego Accelerator Program – US

Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. As one of the largest pre-seed investors in the world, they’ve funded over 3,200 companies that have gone on to have a market cap of $79B+. Techstars portfolio companies include more than 100 companies with valuations of over $100M, and 19 of them have already reached unicorn status including SendGrid, ClassPass, and Chainalysis.

Benefits

• Access to Techstars resources for life;
• Acceleration in a 90-day Techstars mentorship-driven accelerator program with personal mentorship and office space;
• Lifetime access to the Techstars worldwide network of entrepreneurs, including more than 10,000 mentors, 10,000 investors, 4,000 alumni companies, and over 300 staff members;
• Access to more than 300 perks, valued at over $4 million in savings, provided by select partners and Techstars portfolio companies;
• Demo Day exposure and other investor connections.
• Each company receives up to $120,000 in funding, and access to the worldwide network of investors, hands-on mentorship, and over $4M of perks.
• They provide the seed funding to get you going, but you may well need more funding to really make it. Near the end of the three-month program, they’ll organize Demo Day where angel investors and venture capitalists will check out your technology and listen to your pitch. Usually they have about 100-200 investors there. They’ll coach you so you’re as effective as possible, and do everything they can to help get you follow on funding. So far, about 75% companies have received follow on funding and/or immediately became profitable after Techstars ended. On average, Techstars’ companies raise $1-2M post demo day.

Eligibility Criteria

• They fund all types of startups, working in most verticals, using any type of business models. Do keep in mind, however, that the focus is on startups rather than small businesses.
• They choose great founders who are proposing products that solve real problems or create meaningful innovations. For them, it’s about the team. The best things you can do to strengthen your application are:
  • Round out your team with business, technical, and other necessary skills;
  • Make progress on your prototype or product and reference it in the application;
  • Show them you’ve really thought about your business and have gotten out there to do something about it;
  • Demonstrate early traction or provide data points to validate your core assumptions.
• The primary language that they use in verbal and written communications during all accelerator programs—in every country—is English.
• You can apply to any program, and they’ve funded companies from many different countries. You do have to be legally in the program country during the program, of course. Once you are accepted into a program, they can help with legal/immigration issues by leveraging the contacts and network to help. However, they cannot help with them in advance of acceptance to Techstars.
• Yes, you can apply to more than one program. You are able to apply to up to two accelerator programs of your preference each time that Techstars opens a new application group.

For more information, visit Techstars.