TechStars Info Session Wed 12/02 in Cambridge

Come one, come all!

This Wednesday 12/02/09 I will be hosting an informal discussion of all things TechStars for prospective applicants to the 2010 program. It will start at 10:30 AM ET at Andala Cafe in Central Square and wrap up around Noon. If you can’t join us at 10:30 sharp, don’t stress it – I’ll be cycling on the discussion throughout the morning alongside Q&A.

We’ll talk about what the program is like, which companies are most appropriate for the program, and how to apply. We may have some alumni from the Boston 2009 program on hand as well – they’re a stellar source for info on TechStars!

I will be hosting other info sessions during December, so if you can’t make this one do not despair! If there’s a particular day-of-week/time that works well in your schedule, please let me know so I can make sure I schedule these to maximize access. You can reach me at shawn AT techstars DOT org.

Hope to see you Wednesday!

Boston moves to Spring – Applications now open

The TechStars Boston program is happening in the spring of 2010 – March, April, May. Applications are now open – the deadline for Boston is January 11th at 11:59:59pm, but don’t wait because there are some special bonus happy things if you apply early. We decided to offset the timing of the Boston and Boulder programs (see the schedule) to address of a couple of things, including the ability of me and David Cohen to spend more time in Boston during the program if it doesn’t overlap with Boulder as well as the migration of many Bostonians to the Cape for parts of August.

6 of 10 Boulder companies rounds led by VCs in 2009

The 2009 class in Boulder was really outstanding. It was our third year, and I think this class was the strongest overall group we’ve had yet.

All the deals aren’t done yet, but 6 of the 10 companies from this summer in Boulder will eventually announce that they’ve closed deals led by VC firms. These are all seed rounds ranging for $300K – $1.5M. We’re confident that one or two more companies will be angel backed as well.

In past years, we’ve seen most of the companies funded by angel investors. This dynamic really shifted this year both due to the quality of the companies and the awareness of TechStars among venture capitalists. I expect the same kind of trajectory for the Boston program, will should be announcing some other interesting news this week as well.

If you haven’t checked out the 2009 companies, do it now. There are some really interesting ones from both Boulder and Boston – expect some great things from them in the future.