Techstars

Techstars is a pre-seed investor that provides access to capital, mentorship, and other support for early-stage entrepreneurs. It was founded in 2006 in Boulder, Colorado. As of January 2024, the company had accepted over 4,100 companies into its accelerator programs with a combined market capitalization of $106bn USD. Techstars operates accelerator programs in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

History
Techstars was founded in Boulder, Colorado, by David Cohen, Brad Feld, David Brown, and Jared Polis in 2006. Initially, Techstars invested between $6,000 and $18,000 in early stage companies, providing entrepreneurs with mentorship during a three month accelerator program.

The company held its first program in Boulder in 2007 with ten companies. Of the ten, two were acquired that same year. As of 2012, three had achieved positive exits and two were generating millions in annual revenue. In subsequent years, Techstars expanded to Boston, Seattle, New York City, a "cloud" program in San Antonio, and Austin.

In January 2011, Techstars launched the Global Accelerator Network (GAN), which links 22 similar programs internationally. The network was launched in conjunction with President Barack Obama's Startup America Partnership. GAN is now an independently operated organization. Techstars has also supported the formation of Patriot Boot Camp.

In 2017, Techstars partnered with the venture capital firm Partech Ventures to expand its program to Paris, and in September of the same year was contracted to work with the United States Air Force's new technology accelerator "AFwerX". At the beginning of 2019 Techstars started another European program around smart cities in Amsterdam with their corporate partner Arcadis. In 2021, Maëlle Gavet became CEO.

In 2017 Techstars became the first US accelerator to build an office in the UAE.

In 2022 Techstars expanded its work into Africa.

In 2022, Techstars and J.P. Morgan raised $80 million to invest in over 400 companies through 2024; the fund focuses on POC entrepreneurs.

In December 2023, the group announced it would pause its Austin operation. Just a few months later, in February 2024, Techstars announced that it would be moving its headquarters from Boulder to New York, where its CEO lives, and closing the Boulder and Seattle accelerators. The decision was criticized by a former Seattle staffer and others in the startup community. Techstars Seattle was one of the first accelerators to emerge from the Techstars program. The decision to close it was made as the accelerator shifts its focus to cities with more VC activity.

In May 2024, Gavet announced her resignation and that Cohen would return as CEO.

Investment model
Techstars is a pre-seed investor that provides access to capital, one-on-one mentorship, a worldwide network and customized programming for early-stage entrepreneurs. Startup companies can apply for Techstars' program and their viability is judged by the Managing Director of the program they applied to, as well as a screening committee composed of various members of the Techstars network. In exchange for 6% common stock, each company accepted into Techstars currently receives $20,000 plus a $100,000 convertible note, access to the Techstars network for life, over $1M worth of perks (such as $25,000 to $100,000 in AWS credits), and a three-month accelerator program, which is conducted in three phases: mentorship, growth, and investment.

Notable alumni companies

 * Bench
 * Digital Ocean
 * FullContact
 * Graphic.ly
 * IntenseDebate
 * Mocavo
 * Murfie
 * Next Big Sound
 * Orbotix (Sphero)
 * Plated
 * Rheaply
 * SendGrid
 * Simple Energy
 * Sketchfab
 * Socialthing
 * Zagster
 * Salubata