HackSpace v2

The last HackSpace at the TechStars office went really well.  Room for improvement on our part, but the overwhelming community aspect of the event has made it a regular event.

HackSpace v2 will be February 11th from 5-9pm.

As with the last event, HackSpace will be a open night to work on some projects, meet great people and see the TechStars space.  Bring your laptops, projects and some ideas to collaborate with the greater Boulder development community.

There were quite a few suggestions about having some rooms for people to talk and some rooms for people that want to hack away and work on some projects.  We will have this, plus a few other improvements.

TechStars Applications Are Now Open

Applications for the 2009 TechStars program are now open.  If you apply before March 1st, you’ll be eligible to receive an invitation to TechStars For A Day on March 3rd.  The applications deadline is March 21, 2009 at 11:59:59 PM MDT.

For an example of one of the TechStars 2008 companies, take a look at the recent article in the NY Times titled An Online Farmers Market.  It’s a great profile of Foodzie – one of last year’s companies which was founded by Rob LeFave, Emily Olson, and Nik Bauman.  Foodzie recently raised $1m from First Round Capital and SoftTech VC, have launched a dynamite site, and are off to the races.

Hint: Foodzie applied early, came to TechStars For A Day, got into the program, and knocked the cover off the ball.

Apply now.  ‘Nuff said.

Venture Capital Journal cites SocialThing as #2 M&A Return for Internet Companies in 2008

Venture Capital Journal published an article called “Year in Review: Internet” [sub] in their January 2009 issue. In it, SocialThing (a TechStars company from 2007) was listed as #2 in the “Top M&A Returns for VC-backed Internet Companies” in 2008. SocialThing was acquired a AOL in September of 2008 when the company was about a year old.

Next year, we hope to see a TechStars company top this list! No more coming in second!

Applications open January 19th for Summer, 2009. If you’re interested in investing in future great companies like SocialThing, please let us know!

TechStars Meetups soon in NYC, Boston, Boulder, Paris and more all the time

If you’re thinking about applying for TechStars in 2009, we’re sure you have some questions. Sure, you can always read about the details of TechStars, get a quick response for any specific questions you might have, or join in on one of our monthly community phone calls. But we know that nothing beats talking with people in person.

That’s why we’ve organized a series of meetups all over the world. Led by our staff, our mentors, and/or past founders, these meetups are a great way to get to know some of the people with behind the scenes details about TechStars in person. They can help you plan to submit a better application, give you some advice or feedback on your startup, or just give you a better picture of what TechStars is really like.

If you’d like to attend any of these meetups, please follow the links below to register (it’s free, of course). We’re constantly adding to this list, so you may want to subscribe to the meetup list by RSS, or check back often for the current list of dates and cities at our meetup page.