Techstars

Techstars Central LLC, founded in 2006 and based in Boulder, Colorado, operates as a startup accelerator and venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage technology-oriented companies. It specializes in a mentorship-driven accelerator program, selecting ten startups each summer to participate in a three-month incubation period, offering funding of $120,000 in exchange for equity. Techstars invests primarily in sectors such as fintech, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality, and IoT, while avoiding investments in medical devices, healthcare technology, and local service-oriented businesses. In addition to its primary accelerator, Techstars has various specialized programs, including those focused on music, retail, mobility, and social impact, with global reach extending to regions such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The firm prefers taking minority stakes, typically between six and ten percent, without seeking board representation or investor rights. Techstars has built a robust network of entrepreneurs, mentors, and corporate partners to foster innovation and growth within its portfolio, which includes over 1,000 companies with a significant collective market capitalization.

Ethan Austin

MD of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator

Max Kelly

Managing Director of Techstars London

Lesa Mitchell

Managing Director

Vijay Tirathrai

Managing Director

Mark Tortorella

Advisor

Nathanial Zola

MD

Past deals in Iowa

Emigrait

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Emigrait generates detailed fingerprints of behavior and lifestyle for each consumer.

Sevelyn

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Sevelyn is an online therapy platform designed to address disparities in behavioral health and enhance access to mental health care. The platform serves as a marketplace for teletherapy, allowing individuals facing daily mental health challenges to connect with licensed, board-certified therapists and psychologists. Sevelyn focuses on providing care that is culturally informed, specifically catering to the Latino community by matching patients with professionals who understand their unique cultural values and needs. The company aims to offer these services at a low cost, making mental health support more accessible to those in need.

OpenLoop

Seed Round in 2021
OpenLoop is a health technology company that provides a comprehensive platform aimed at enhancing virtual care services through a turnkey clinician workforce solution. The platform streamlines the process of finding and recruiting healthcare professionals by centralizing a database of providers and their specialties, while also collecting job requirements from various healthcare institutions. This approach facilitates timely notifications to hospitals and recruiters when suitable opportunities become available, effectively addressing staffing shortages in the healthcare sector. By simplifying telehealth operations, OpenLoop supports organizations in scaling their clinical services efficiently.

OpenLoop

Pre Seed Round in 2020
OpenLoop is a health technology company that provides a comprehensive platform aimed at enhancing virtual care services through a turnkey clinician workforce solution. The platform streamlines the process of finding and recruiting healthcare professionals by centralizing a database of providers and their specialties, while also collecting job requirements from various healthcare institutions. This approach facilitates timely notifications to hospitals and recruiters when suitable opportunities become available, effectively addressing staffing shortages in the healthcare sector. By simplifying telehealth operations, OpenLoop supports organizations in scaling their clinical services efficiently.

ETALYC

Pre Seed Round in 2019
ETALYC is a software as a service (SaaS) provider. We focus on improving traffic operations through the integration of modern technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and big data analytics. ETALYC’s products harness the widespread data collected from various transportation modes, such as connected vehicles or GPSs, to analyze and optimize traffic flow in various areas.

Bawte

Seed Round in 2014
Bawte is a customer engagement platform that enables brands to connect with actual customers. They do this by enabling manufacturers to drive value back to their customers through proactive alerts, messaging and hard to find content.

NextStep.io

Seed Round in 2013
NextStep.io is not just about what you want to do next, but who can help get you there - connect your activity with a personal trainer, wellness coach or group to ‪#‎OwnToday‬ Fitness activity tracking devices and apps offer tremendous potential to change the way people live – NextStep.io turns that potential into reality. NextStep.io organizes activity data (Fuelband, FitBit, RunKeeper, etc) to identify habits and improve outcomes by connecting an individual to personal trainers, wellness coaches and groups. Personalized trends and goal progress are reported with simple indicators that engage individual users