The Dallas startup community is booming, and just like any ecosystem, there are different branches that are suitable for distinct niche markets all over the city. Something that may come as a surprise to you, is the rise of the tech-friendly accelerator. A little Statup 101: An accelerator helps small business or startups hit the ground running with the goal of growing rapidly. Accelerator programs focus on sorting out organizational, operational, and strategic growing pains and sometimes connect those who participate with large mentor networks. They usually run somewhere between 3-6 months. Take a moment to “speed-date” through a list of tech-friendly accelerators in Dallas and find out why their leaders think their program is the hottest one on the market.
Accelerator Type: Seed Accelerator, Data Driven Who can apply: software based companies who are working in the B2B or B2C space with pre-revenue or revenue. Now Accepting applications through August 4th! Length of Program: 12 Weeks Investment: $25K Equity: 8% Location: 14681 Midway Rd, Addison, Tx Website: www.collidevillage.com How do they help tech startups: Collide Village functions under more of a classroom model. They have curated content sessions on different topics every week that help companies design experiments to validate the hypotheses they hold about their company or their target market. They then bring data back into the class to discuss what worked and what didn’t work. The process repeats thru various cycles of BUILD-LEARN-MEASURE, a key methodology that helps entrepreneurs solve complex problems in a scientific way. This leads them to defining the scope of their product in a way that is meaningful to their customers. Accelerator Type: Seed to Pre-Series A, Industry focused, Mentor Driven Who can apply: Tech startups that are focused on Real Estate and the Built Environment. Now accepting applications through August 2nd! Length of Program: 3 months Investment: minimum of $40K Equity: 6% Location: 311 North Market Street, Suite #200 Website: www.thisismotive.com How do they help tech startups: The MOTIVE Real Estate Technology Accelerator is an intensive 3 month program that supports tech startup founders changing the ways that we build, use, and connect our physical spaces. We leverage the biggest real estate market in the country and the world’s top real estate technology mentor network, along with corporate innovation relationships like the CBRE Innovation Lab and the Perot Group Technology Team to create instant customer development opportunities. Demo day in collaboration with DisruptCRE Dallas (the premiere Real Estate Technology conference).
Accelerator Type: Seed Accelerator, Mentor Driven Who can apply: B2B accelerator, for early-stage startups whose largest or primary customer base will be businesses, not consumers. Length of Program: 12 weeks Investment: $25K Equity: 8% Location: 211 North Ervay , Ste 300 Website: www.techwildcatters.com How do they help tech startups: Tech Wildcatters is the #5 startup accelerator in the nation as of 2015, according to Inc. Magazine. They invest money and resources in promising B2B startups. Their world-class mentors are successful entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 executives who offer their experience to guide startups as they craft their vision and scale their companies. The first 12 weeks are just the beginning though, because once you’re in Tech Wildcatters, you’re part of the family. They select companies they want to work with long-term, so their massive network and resources become yours. They are also the parent company to Health Wildcatters.
Accelerator Type: Seed Accelerator, Mentor Driven Who can apply: B2B accelerator, for early-stage startups with a focus on hardware and consumer wearable technology with First Responder application. Length of Program: 12 weeks Investment: $25K Equity: 8% Location: 211 North Ervay , Ste 300 Website: www.techwildcatters.com/emerge, www.emergewear.com How do they help tech startups: The Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) is embarking on a program that incorporates business accelerators into its toolkit for finding companies whose consumer technologies could represent the next generation of solutions for DHS’ end users. S&T has chosen to pilot its accelerator program with Tech Wildcatters in the field of wearable technology, a high priority sector for its Next Generation First Responder initiative. As it applies to first responders, wearable tech is a rich source of new capabilities that span everything from physiological monitoring to environmental sensing, networked mobile communications, situational awareness and smart, resilient fabrics. The EMERGE by Tech Wildcatters accelerator is the first of its kind, working in partnership with the DHS, the Center for Innovative Technology, TEEX, and Wearable World.
Accelerator Type: Seed Accelerator, Mentor Driven Who can apply: Digital Health/mHealth, Medical Devices, Consumer Goods and Services, Pharma, Diagnostic Companies, open to any health-related startup Length of Program: 12 weeks Investment: $30K, up to $350K convertible notes from Health Wildcatters fund and its investors Equity: 8% Location: 211 North Ervay , Ste 300 Website: www.healthwildcatters.com How do they help tech startups: Many digital health startups don’t have extensive healthcare experience on their teams. The Health Wildcatters network of investors and mentors include decades of healthcare delivery, leadership, and investing. This provides the right environment to develop better use cases , validate customers, and improve the go to market strategies.
Accelerator Type: Seed Accelerator, Mentor Driven Who can apply: Tech startups for the Retail, Restaurant & Hospitality Industries Length of Program: 14 weeks Investment: up to $40K Equity: 6% Location: 311 North Market Street, Suite #200 Website: www.revtechaccelerator.com How do they help tech startups: REVTECH recruits mentors who are successful entrepreneurs, who have built substantial companies, and who can share real-world, hands-on experience with our startups. REVTECH partners with leading retail, restaurant & hospitality companies that serve on our advisory board, as mentors, investors, and your potential customers. Since they are located in Dallas, the city with the largest concentration of national restaurant and retail chains headquartered in the US, their network is extremely powerful.
Accelerator Type: First round will be a Condensed Accelerator, which will be mentor and resource driven. Current partners and mentors are successful, young entrepreneurs. Funded accelerator exclusively for students in the future. Who can apply: Current high school students with development and design experience. Next year’s accelerator will accept college students. Length of Program: 3 weeks before the program launch, and 3 weeks during program. 1 month and a half total. Partners and mentors work with companies year round. Investment: In-Kind (not monetary). Equity: 15% Location: 610 Elm Street, McKinney, TX Website: http://satusproject.com/ How do they help tech startups: The SATUS mentors network is composed of young founders each with an industry specific background, as well as experienced Dallas entrepreneurs. Current mentors are from SF, Boston, and DC and will focus on tech based startups. The accelerator’s partners include Rhamy Belayachi, Jed Rollins, and Nathan Chiu – a full stack software engineer, a product/graphic designer, and an MIT accelerator alum, respectively.
