Help for Startups! A Semi-Complete List of Startup Accelerator Programs

This is a guest post by Rob Shedd, VP of Product and Technology for Three Screen Games, who is actively involved with the Lion Launch Pad, an accelerator program for student entrepreneurs at Penn State.  You can read the original article here.

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?

Global Seed-Stage Startup Accelerators

  1. Ann Arbor, MI – SPARK Business Acceleratorhttp://www.annarborusa.org/start-ups/spark-business-accelerator/
  2. Atlanta, GA – Shotput Ventureshttp://www.shotputventures.com
  3. Athens, Greece – OpenFundhttp://theopenfund.com
  4. Austin, TX – Capital Factoryhttp://www.capitalfactory.com
  5. Austin, TX – TechRanch Austinhttp://techranchaustin.com
  6. Bangalore, India – iAcceleratorhttp://iaccelerator.org
  7. Bangalore, India – The Morpheushttp://www.themorpheus.com (formerly Morpheus Venture Partners – http://www.morpheusventure.com)
  8. Bangalore, India – Upstart.inhttp://www.upstart.in/programs.html
  9. Barcelona, Spain – SeedRockethttp://www.seedrocket.com
  10. Belfast, Northern Ireland – StartVI (Start 6)http://www.startvi.com
  11. Berkley, CA – Berkley Ventureshttp://www.berkeleyventures.com
  12. Bloomington, IN – Sproutboxhttp://www.sproutbox.com
  13. Boulder, CO / Boston, MA / Seattle, WA – TechStarshttp://www.techstars.org
  14. Boston, MA and other cities – IBM Smartcamphttp://www.ibm.com/ie/smarterplanet/smartcamp/
  15. Boston, MA – Start@Sparkhttp://www.sparkcapital.com/start/
  16. Cambridge, UK – Springboardhttp://springboard.red-gate.com
  17. Champaign, IL – iVentures10http://www.iventures10.com
  18. Chicago, IL – Excelerate Labshttp://www.exceleratelabs.com
  19. China – Innovation Workshttp://en.innovation-works.com/
  20. Copenhagen, Denmark – Startupbootcamphttp://www.startupbootcamp.dk
  21. Dalian, China – China Acceleratorhttp://chinaccelerator.com
  22. Dallas, TX – Tech Wildcattershttp://techwildcatters.com
  23. Detroit, MI – Bizdom Uhttp://www.bizdom.com
  24. Dublin, Ireland – NDRC’s Launch Padhttp://www.ndrc.ie/projects/entrepreneurial-internships/
  25. England – The Difference Enginehttp://thedifferenceengine.eu
  26. Greenville, SC – NextStarthttp://www.nextstart.org
  27. Hamburg, Germany – HackFwdhttp://hackfwd.com
  28. Houston, TX – Houston Tech Centerhttp://www.houstontech.org
  29. Italy – H-Farmhttp://www.h-farmventures.com
  30. Italy – Working Capitalhttp://www.workingcapital.telecomitalia.it/2010/03/koinup-selezionata/
  31. Jordan – Oasis 500http://arabcrunch.com/2010/06/oasis-500-a-startup-accelerator-to-launch-in-august.html (launching in August – no specific site yet)
  32. Lexington, MA / Menlo Park, CA – Summer@Highland Capitalhttp://www.hcp.com/summer/
  33. Lexington, KY – The Awesome Inc. Experiencehttp://awesomeinc.org/the-awesome-experience
  34. Limerick, Ireland – The Greenhousehttp://greenhouselimerick.com
  35. Lisbon, Portugal – Maverick/SeedCapitalhttp://maverick.pt http://seedcapital.pt
  36. London, UK – Seedcamphttp://www.seedcamp.com
  37. Los Angeles, CA – LaunchPadLAhttp://www.launchpad.la
  38. Madrid, Spain – Tetuan Valley Startup Schoolhttp://www.tetuanvalley.com
  39. Menlo Park, CA – Lightspeed Venture Partners Summer Grantshttp://lightspeedvp.com/summergrants.aspx
  40. Montreal, Ca – BOLIDEAhttp://blog.bolidea.com
  41. Montreal, Ca – Flow Ventures Accelerator Programhttp://www.flowventures.com
  42. Montreal, Ca – Montreal Startuphttp://montrealstartup.com
  43. Mountain View, CA – Y Combinatorhttp://www.ycombinator.com
  44. Nashville, TN – JumpStart Foundryhttp://www.jumpstartfoundry.com
  45. New York, NY – FirstGrowth Venture Networkhttp://www.firstgrowthvn.com
  46. New York, NY – The Hatcheryhttp://www.hatchery.vc
  47. New York, NY – NYC SeedStarthttp://www.nycseed.com/seedstart.html
  48. Orange County, CA – OCTANe LaunchPadhttp://www.octaneoc.org
  49. Orem, Utah – BoomStartuphttp://boomstartup.com
  50. Phoenix, AZ – Gangplankhttp://gangplankhq.com
  51. Philadelphia, PA – DreamIt Ventureshttp://www.dreamitventures.com
  52. Philadelphia, PA – Startl – partners with DreamIt Ventures – http://startl.org/apply/accelerator-apply/
  53. Pittsburgh, PA – AlphaLabhttp://alphalab.org
  54. Portland, OR – The Portland Tenhttp://www.portlandten.com
  55. Providence, RI – Betaspringhttp://www.betaspring.com
  56. Redwood City, CA – Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE) Seed Programhttp://www.svase.org
  57. San Francisco, CA – The Start Projecthttp://thestartproject.com
  58. San Diego, CA – Springboard program at CONNECT.orghttp://www.connect.org/springboard/
  59. San Francisco, CA – i/o Ventureshttp://www.ventures.io
  60. Seattle, WA – Founders Co-ophttp://www.founderscoop.com
  61. Silicon Valley – PayPal Startup Acceleratorhttp://www.x.com/community/ppx/xspaces/accelerator
  62. Singapore – Neoteny Labshttp://www.neotenylabs.com
  63. Singapore – Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI)http://jfdi.asia
  64. Sydney, Australia – SeedAcceleratorhttp://www.seedaccelerator.com
  65. Taipei, Taiwan – appWorks Ventures Incubator Programhttp://appworks.tw/incubator/
  66. Toronto, Canada – Extreme Venture Partners Universityhttp://www.extremevp.com/university/
  67. Tokyo, Japan – Open Network Labhttp://www.onlab.jp
  68. Utah – Startup Utahhttp://startuputah.com
  69. Vancouver, Canada – BootupLabshttp://bootuplabs.com
  70. Washington, D.C. / Durham, NC – LaunchboxDigitalhttp://www.launchboxdigital.com
  71. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada – Impact Ventureshttp://www.impact.org
  72. Wilmington, DE – BetaFishhttp://betafishde.tumblr.com (on Facebook)
  73. Zeeland, MI – Momentumhttp://www.momentum-mi.com
  74. Multiple Locations – The Founder Institutehttp://founderinstitute.com
  75. Unknown Location – Youniversity Ventureshttp://www.youniversityventures.com

Social Entrepreneurship

  1. Boulder, Colorado – Unreasonable Institutehttp://www.unreasonableinstitute.org
  2. Philadelphia, PA – GoodCompany Ventureshttp://www.goodcompanyventures.org
  3. India – Dasra Social-Impacthttp://www.dasra.org/dasra-social-impact.htm

University-Affiliated Startup Accelerator Programs

  1. Finland – Aalto University – Aalto Bootcamphttp://aaltoes.com/aaltoes-venture-track/bootcamp/
  2. Arizon State University – Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative - http://studentventures.asu.edu
  3. Babson College – Summer Venture Programhttp://www3.babson.edu/Newsroom/Releases/Summer-Venture-program.cfm (no specific site avail)
  4. Berkeley Entrepreneurship Laboratoryhttp://entrepreneurship.berkeley.edu/resources/bel.html
  5. College of the Atlantic – Sustainable Ventures Incubatorhttp://www.coa.edu/press-releases_pg1_724.htm
  6. Cornell University – eLabshttp://www.elabstartup.com
  7. Couri Hatchery at Syracuse Universityhttp://whitman.syr.edu/eee/incubator/
  8. Duke University – DUhatchhttp://www.cerc.duke.edu/duhatch
  9. University of Michigan – RPM10http://www.rpmvc.com/rpm10/
  10. University of Michigan’s “Techarb” Business Acceleratorhttp://techarb.org/about/ and http://cfe.engin.umich.edu/businessaccelerator
  11. University of North Carolina – Carolina Launch Padhttp://www.carolinalaunchpad.org
  12. Penn State University – Lion Launch Padhttp://www.lionlaunchpad.org
  13. University of Pennsylvania - Wharton Venture Initiation Programhttp://vip.wharton.upenn.edu
  14. RIT Student Business Development Labhttp://entrepreneurship.rit.edu/business_lab.php (part of the Venture Creations program at RIT http://www.venturecreations.org)
  15. Santa Clara University – Global Social Benefit Incubatorhttp://www.scu.edu/sts/gsbi/
  16. Stanford University – Student Startup Labhttp://sselabs.stanford.edu/
  17. Syracuse University – Start-Up Acceleratorhttp://accelerate.syr.edu/ForStudents/index.aspx
  18. Syracuse Student Sandbox at the Tech Gardenhttp://thetechgarden.com/studentsandbox
  19. Union College – U-Starthttp://www.union.edu/resources/technology/u-start/index.php
  20. The University of Texas at Austin – Texas Venture Labshttp://www.texasventurelabs.net
  21. Virginia Tech – DayOne Ventureshttp://dayoneventures.com
  22. University of Waterloo – VeloCity “Dormcubator”http://velocity.uwaterloo.ca
  23. Wayne State University – SmartStart Business Development Programhttp://techtownwsu.org/business/smartstart.php
  24. Yale University – Yale Entrepreneurial Institute / Yale Startupshttp://www.yalestartups.com

Deadpool / Inactive

Other Useful Resources:

  • Map of Seed Accelerator programs around the world: On Google Maps
  • List of Application Deadlines for programs: here