Every year, with every class, we discuss a specific question with investors, mentors, and alumni: “Is there a type of founder or team that the Techstars Boston Accelerator is looking for?” 

In short, the answer is: yes! 

In this article, we’ll unpack the types of founders and startups we’re looking for, alongside some updates and insider information about Techstars Boston. 

Additionally, after raising one of the largest funds in Techstars history solely dedicated to supporting Techstars “city” (i.e. non-partner accelerators) like Techstars Boston, we are excited to announce that we’re bringing in more talent to Techstars Boston and growing the team. After being involved with Techstars for nearly 10 years, current Managing Director Clement Cazalot is returning to his roots, transitioning to a founder role of a Techstars company!

The new Techstars Boston managing director is ready to start after months of work with the greater Boston ecosystem to determine the absolute best “Boston-fit”. We will be announcing the new Managing Director in just a few weeks. 

Until then, we have a ton of exciting updates to share with you today.

Keep reading for more! 

Techstars Boston in the time of COVID

We may be seeing the end of these “unprecedented” times. And while there have been many changes, Techstars Boston’s commitment to helping local entrepreneurs succeed while leveraging our worldwide network is unwavering. Our program has adopted creative workarounds to keep operating our accelerator, supporting our founders to the fullest. 

We asked a few founders from the last class what their experience in a hybrid or mostly-remote environment has been like. Here’s what they had to say: 

"Techstars is like getting an MBA in 3 months. It's heavy and fast but you come out of it polished and a world-class business owner." - Adena Jones, CEO of Another Lane

“Going through Techstars Boston has been a transformative experience. The program pushed me to grow past my technical skills and taught me many valuable things about building a team and product as a CTO. Everyone in Techstars lives the "Give First" attitude, which made me feel like I had access to an extensive support system that gave me the confidence to ask for help and guidance when I needed to learn something new. Through Techstars, we learned how to focus our startup's mission and align the whole team with our vision and goals, which has made all the difference as we grow and scale Resultid.” - Sifron Benjamin, CTO of Resultid

"Techstars Boston has left its own mark on Lunasonde, reinventing everything and supporting us in fine-tuning our focus on the future. At the onset of the program, I could not have fathomed how revolutionary this opportunity would be for both Lunasonde and my own growth as a leader. We left the program a much wiser, confident, and driven company." - Jeremiah Pate, CEO of Lunasonde

What is the “Founder-Boston-Fit” that Techstars Boston is looking for?

The pandemic provided founders the opportunity to embrace the Boston ecosystem without having to spend all winter here. As a result of that experience, we feel location does not matter as much anymore.

But, expertise does. And there are centers of expertise, like Boston (and the fact that Boston alumni have now raised way over $500M while remote demonstrates just that!).

If you’re starting a company in Boston, or peg the city as your primary market, let’s talk!

Additionally, if the technology you are building, your competitors, market leaders, or research labs are based in Boston, then we NEED to speak.  This is the bedrock of why Techstars was founded here: opening our city and its resources to all.

Boston has domestic and international strength and expertise in many markets - from Healthcare and Fintech to technologies out of the lab like Robotics, Material Science and, everything that the FDA will take years to approve.

Aside from the Boston-fit, if you’re game to participate in an intensive program that will help your company grow by leaps and bounds through focusing on the foundations of business (sales, marketing, hiring (fundraising is a byproduct of this focus), we’d love to chat!

Program Format and Useful Links

Being a remote program, there is inherently more overlap with other communities. COVID & vaccination permitting, this year will be a hybrid model. In 2021, our program hopes to provide a hybrid experience (virtual and in-person programming), COVID circumstances permitting.

We’ve aligned the dates of the next class of the accelerator with the last program, continuing to run once a year to give full attention to every company, instead of running, for now, at an accelerated pace of a program every nine months.

Program Dates: Nov. 8th, 2021 - Feb. 17th, 2022

Application link: https://www.f6s.com/bostonaccelerator-2021/apply

Link to office hours: https://www.f6s.com/techstarsbostonofficehours/about

Jen, Yamini & Clement

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