It’s that time of the year again. Techstars NYC, one of the city's most prestigious startup accelerators, is looking for companies for their next class.
Techstars NYC is officially accepting applications for their Winter 2017 program, and will continue to take them until October 15th.
While applications are open, your chances of actually being admitted into the program are incredibly low, and the application process is very competitive. Techstars said they accept just one percent of founders who apply. Compare that to Harvard's 5.2 percent acceptance rate and you'll see just how daunting your prospects are.
"We are looking, first and foremost, for talented founders who know a lot about the spaces they are going after," Alex Islold, Techstars NYC Managing Director said. "For us, the team, and why they started the business is really important. Beyond that, we look for teams with a strong engineering core, and great product sense. We love founders who are building cutting edge tech and inventing new things. We are category agnostic in general and are happy to engage with a broad set of verticals."
The rewards for startups that do make it into the program are many. Founders get unprecedented access to Techstars’ network of world-class mentors, speakers and investors — not to mention, the program itself. Additionally, founders can take advantage of $120,000 in funding and a host of other perks — though Techstars does take between a six and 10 percent equity stake in return.
Techstars was founded in Boulder, Colorado in 2006 and has since grown to offer their 13-week intensive program in cities around the world. New York was one of the first cities the program expanded to, back in 2011 (after Seattle in 2010 and Boston in 2009), and there is a long list of successful companies that have come out of that program. Companies like Digital Ocean, ClassPass, Plated, BlueCore and Homemade all completed the NYC program.
If you think you have what it takes, you can apply here — the application isn’t as scary as you’d think. And besides, I'm not really a math guy, but I'm pretty sure a one percent chance is far higher than a zero percent chance.
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