About

About

TechStars is a mentorship-driven seed stage investment program. We run a three month long program in Boston (MA), Boulder (CO), and Seattle (WA) once each year. We’re very selective – hundreds of companies apply and we only take about ten companies per city. These companies get up to $18,000 in seed funding, three months of intensive top-notch mentorship, and the chance to pitch to angel investors and venture capitalists at the end of the program. Get details.

Locations

We have three locations where we run the program: Boston, Massachusetts, Boulder, Colorado and Seattle, Washington. Boston operates in the Spring, Boulder operates in the Summer, and Seattle in the Fall.

Philosophy

As Brad Feld puts it:

“While the seed funding is nice, the real value is the advice, mentoring, and connections provided by TechStars. When I started my first company – Feld Technologies – in 1987, I had a few mentors which I’ve written about in the past. However, the notion of having three months full of concentrated mentors, surrounded by 20+ other entrepreneurs starting up their own companies, in one of the best and fun cities on the planet, blows my mind.”

We are big on mentorship, and we are pretty darn open with what we do and how we can help others (feel free to contact us).

Style

We have a very laid back and friendly atmosphere, working hard late into the nights while preparing for early morning meetings.

Portfolio

We have invested in 39 companies since 2007. Ten in 2007, ten in 2008, and 19 in 2009 as we expand to Boston.
Our official portfolio is here.

Video

You can check out TechStarsTV for a collection of over a hundred videos. You can also check out our weekly video series “The Founders.”

Staff

David Cohen, CEO and Executive Director, Boulder
Shawn Broderick, Executive Director, Boston
Andy Sack, Executive Director, Seattle
Andrew Hyde, Community Director
Nicole Glaros, General Manager