Robert SheddBlogging about the business, technology, and life of startups

This is a post I’ve had a running draft of for some time. I’m happy to be getting it out of my draft bin and out onto the web!

Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital spoke at DreamIt Ventures this summer. During his talk, Josh mentioned how he expects to see an increasing number of DreamIt/TechStars/Y Combinator-style locally-focused “seed stage startup accelerator” programs in the coming years.

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Between the research that led to the founding of the Lion Launch Pad at Penn State and my research into startup accelerator programs before joining DreamIt Ventures this summer, I’ve talked with / read about a number of programs.

But I wasn’t really sure how many programs were out there, nor have I been able to find a comprehensive list anywhere else. The programs certainly don’t all operate in the same fashion, so there is a lot of diversity as far as terms and offerings, but in general, I think everyone can agree that it’s a good thing for startups that so many are taking an interest around the globe in helping early stage ventures get off the group and take flight.

So, here is the list I’ve been compiling – I’m sure I’m forgetting a few – what else is out there?

Locally-Focused and Seed-Stage Startup Accelerators

• Ann Arbor, MI – SPARK Business Accelerator – http://www.annarborusa.org/start-ups/spark-business-accelerator/
• Atlanta, GA – Shotput Ventures – http://www.shotputventures.com
• Athens, Greece – OpenFund – http://theopenfund.com
• Austin, TX – Capital Factory – http://www.capitalfactory.com
• Austin, TX – TechRanch Austin – http://techranchaustin.com
• Bangalore, India – iAccelerator – http://iaccelerator.org
• Bangalore, India – The Morpheus – http://www.themorpheus.com (formerly Morpheus Venture Partners – http://www.morpheusventure.com)
• Bangalore, India – Upstart.in – http://www.upstart.in/programs.html
• Barcelona, Spain – SeedRocket – http://www.seedrocket.com
• Belfast, Northern Ireland – StartVI (Start 6) – http://www.startvi.com
• Berkley, CA – Berkley Ventures – http://www.berkeleyventures.com
• Bloomington, IN – Sproutbox – http://www.sproutbox.com
• Boulder, CO / Boston, MA / Seattle, WA – TechStars – http://www.techstars.org
• Boston, MA – Start@Spark – http://www.sparkcapital.com/start/
• Cambridge, UK – Springboard – http://springboard.red-gate.com
• Champaign, IL – iVentures10 – http://www.iventures10.com
• Chicago, IL – Excelerate Labs – http://www.exceleratelabs.com
• Copenhagen, Denmark – Startupbootcamp – http://www.startupbootcamp.dk
• Dallas, TX – Tech Wildcatters – http://techwildcatters.com
• Detroit, MI – Bizdom U – http://www.bizdom.com
• Durham, NC – Triangle Startup Factory – http://trianglestartupfactory.com
• England – The Difference Engine – http://thedifferenceengine.eu
• Greenville, SC – NextStart – http://www.nextstart.org
• Houston, TX – Houston Tech Center – http://www.houstontech.org
• Italy – H-Farm – http://www.h-farmventures.com
• Lexington, MA / Menlo Park, CA – Summer@Highland Capital – http://www.hcp.com/summer/
• Lexington, KY – The Awesome Inc. Experience – http://awesomeinc.org/the-awesome-experience
• Limerick, Ireland – The Greenhouse – http://greenhouselimerick.com
• Lisbon, Portugal – Maverick/SeedCapital – http://maverick.pt http://seedcapital.pt
• London, UK – Seedcamp – http://www.seedcamp.com
• Madrid, Spain – Tetuan Valley Startup School – http://www.tetuanvalley.com
• Menlo Park, CA – Lightspeed Venture Partners Summer Grants – http://lightspeedvp.com/summergrants.aspx
• Montreal, Ca – BOLIDEA – http://blog.bolidea.com
• Montreal, Ca – Flow Ventures Accelerator Program – http://www.flowventures.com
• Montreal, Ca – Montreal Startup – http://montrealstartup.com
• Mountain View, CA – Y Combinator – http://www.ycombinator.com
• New York, NY – FirstGrowth Venture Network – http://www.firstgrowthvn.com
• New York, NY – The Hatchery – http://www.hatchery.vc
• New York, NY – NYC SeedStart – http://www.nycseed.com/seedstart.html
• Phoenix, AZ – Gangplank – http://gangplankhq.com
• Philadelphia, PA – DreamIt Ventures – http://www.dreamitventures.com
• Philadelphia, PA – Startl – partners with DreamIt Ventures – http://startl.org/apply/accelerator-apply/
• Pittsburgh, PA – AlphaLab – http://alphalab.org
• Portland, OR – The Portland Ten – http://www.portlandten.com
• Providence, RI – Betaspring – http://www.betaspring.com
• Redwood City, CA – Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE) Seed Program – http://www.svase.org
• San Francisco, CA – The Start Project – http://thestartproject.com
• San Diego, CA – Springboard program at CONNECT.org – http://www.connect.org/springboard/
• San Francisco, CA – i/o Ventures - http://www.ventures.io
• Seattle, WA – Founders Co-op – http://www.founderscoop.com
• Singapore – Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI) – http://jfdi.asia
• Sydney, Australia – SeedAccelerator – http://www.seedaccelerator.com
• Toronto, Ca – Extreme Venture Partners University – http://www.extremevp.com/university/
• Vancouver, Canada – BootupLabs – http://bootuplabs.com
• Vienna, Austria – YEurope – http://www.yeurope.net
• Washington, D.C. – LaunchboxDigital – http://www.launchboxdigital.com
• Waterloo, Ontario, Canada – Impact Ventures – http://www.impact.org
• Zeeland, MI – Momentum – http://www.momentum-mi.com
• Multiple Locations – The Founder Institute – http://founderinstitute.com
• Unknown Location – Youniversity Ventures – http://www.youniversityventures.com

Social Entrepreneurship

• Boulder, Colorado – Unreasonable Institute – http://www.unreasonableinstitute.org
• Philadelphia, PA – GoodCompany Ventures – http://www.goodcompanyventures.org

University-Affiliated Startup Accelerator Programs

• Arizon State University – Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative - http://studentventures.asu.edu
• Babson College – Summer Venture Program – http://www3.babson.edu/Newsroom/Releases/Summer-Venture-program.cfm (no specific site avail)
• Berkeley Entrepreneurship Laboratory – http://entrepreneurship.berkeley.edu/resources/bel.html
• Couri Hatchery at Syracuse University – http://whitman.syr.edu/eee/incubator/
• Duke University – DUhatch – http://www.cerc.duke.edu/duhatch
• University of Michigan’s “Techarb” Business Accelerator – http://techarb.org/about/ and http://cfe.engin.umich.edu/businessaccelerator
• University of North Carolina – Carolina Launch Pad - http://www.carolinalaunchpad.org
• Penn State University – Lion Launch Pad – http://www.lionlaunchpad.org
• University of Pennsylvania - Wharton Venture Initiation Program – http://vip.wharton.upenn.edu
• RIT Student Business Development Lab – http://entrepreneurship.rit.edu/business_lab.php (part of the Venture Creations program at RIT http://www.venturecreations.org)
• Syracuse Student Sandbox at the Tech Garden – http://thetechgarden.com/studentsandbox
• Union College – U-Start – http://www.union.edu/resources/technology/u-start/index.php
• University of Waterloo – VeloCity “Dormcubator” - http://velocity.uwaterloo.ca
• Wayne State University – SmartStart Business Development Program – http://techtownwsu.org/business/smartstart.php
• Yale University – Yale Entrepreneurial Institute / Yale Startups – http://www.yalestartups.com

** In the comments, there was a program from Kettering University suggested. I see this program as more of a conventional incubator than what I have come to term a seed stage accelerator program. For this reason, (nothing against the program) I have not included it in the list (there are far too many conventional incubator programs to try to compile a list of those), though if you are in Flint, MI, hopefully the program is able to be of assistance.

Again, I’m sure this is not an exhaustive list and there are others out there.  Let us know – where else can startups find help!

Sources: Numerous blog posts and tweets + Jed Christiansen’s dissertation appendix + great tips in the comments! The New York student programs were listed at http://bianys.com/student_incubators

Edited: From the comments below and the thread over on Hacker News, there have been some great suggestions for the list. I’ve updated the list with the applicable programs.

Tags: dreamit ventures, seed stage accelerator programs, startl, startups, techstars, y combinator

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