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 Maryland

MindStand Technologies

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Fostering a healthy online community, one post at a time!

Femly

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Femly LLC, founded in 2016 and based in Baltimore, Maryland, manufactures and distributes feminine hygiene care products. The company offers a variety of plant-based and environmentally friendly items, including organic cotton tampons, day and night pads, menstrual cups, and body care products. Femly caters to women directly through its online platform and provides monthly subscriptions, online ordering, and home delivery services. Additionally, its products are available in restrooms at various organizations such as hotels, co-working spaces, and colleges. By focusing on sustainable and health-conscious options, Femly aims to meet the needs of modern consumers in the feminine care market.

Sunairio

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Sunairio is a developer of a weather intelligence platform for renewable energy prediction. Its platform offers simulations that account for correlations between multiple locations and weather features and leverages the complete NOAA sub-hourly historical archive.

AlgenAir

Non Equity Assistance in 2021
AlgenAir is a company focused on improving indoor air quality through the development of natural air purifiers that utilize algae. Their innovative filters are designed to effectively remove carbon dioxide from the environment while simultaneously producing oxygen, creating a healthier atmosphere for occupants. By harnessing the natural processes of algae, AlgenAir offers an organic solution for air purification, catering to those seeking sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives for enhancing air quality indoors.

Pixspan

Funding Round in 2021
Pixspan, Inc., a software company, offers data acceleration solutions for moving large forms of data of any type and size to, from, and within the cloud, as well as offers on-premise data solutions for full-resolution video and images. It provides CloudMover, which incorporates Pixspan's intelligent file handling technology; PixMover, which optimizes users to store, collaborate on, transfer, and manage data; Snowball Loader software to install and begin loading data; VDrive application, a solution for achieving media workflows; and Bit Exact Round Trip software for image encoding and decoding. The company serves media and entertainment, medical imaging, and satellite and surveillance industries. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Rockville, Maryland.

Cherry Blossom Intimates

Funding Round in 2020
Cherry Blossom Intimates offers customizable post-mastectomy prosthetics to breast cancer survivors. It includes a "state-of-the-art fitting experience," and the prosthetics can be billed to insurance.

Cherry Blossom Intimates

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Cherry Blossom Intimates offers customizable post-mastectomy prosthetics to breast cancer survivors. It includes a "state-of-the-art fitting experience," and the prosthetics can be billed to insurance.

Slighter

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Slighter LLC, founded in 2015 and based in Bethesda, Maryland, offers a smart lighter designed to assist smokers in reducing their cigarette consumption. The device utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze users' smoking habits and create a personalized reduction plan. By employing positive reinforcement and setting achievable goals, Slighter encourages users to gradually decrease their daily intake of cigarettes. The smart lighter connects to users' mobile devices, providing unique challenges and tracking progress to enhance the quitting process. This chemical-free solution aims to help individuals master their smoking habits and ultimately quit smoking altogether.

R3 Score

Pre Seed Round in 2019
R3 Score is a more nuanced alternative to the traditional background check, providing businesses with a more accurate way to assess the potential riskiness of applicants with a criminal record and helping to remove barriers to economic opportunity for individuals with a criminal record.

Troposphere

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Troposphere is environmental monitoring that lets users know what's in their air and water. The new GreenTech startup is rolling out air quality control stations that measure temperature, relative humidity, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide outside its home city, with an international launch in the works. It was founded in 2018 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Flikshop

Seed Round in 2018
Flikshop allows users to be able to build a personalized postcard from the Flikshop mobile app that will be mailed via USPS to ANY prison inmate in the US. Users download the mobile app or go to www.flikshop.com to build a postcard with a personalized photo, add a quick note, and key in the inmate's name and inmate number. Flikshop takes care of the rest for $0.99 per postcard, and that includes the postage. Within 2-4 days the inmate will receive a REAL postcard from the loved one.

Flikshop

Convertible Note in 2018
Flikshop allows users to be able to build a personalized postcard from the Flikshop mobile app that will be mailed via USPS to ANY prison inmate in the US. Users download the mobile app or go to www.flikshop.com to build a postcard with a personalized photo, add a quick note, and key in the inmate's name and inmate number. Flikshop takes care of the rest for $0.99 per postcard, and that includes the postage. Within 2-4 days the inmate will receive a REAL postcard from the loved one.

LawnStarter

Convertible Note in 2014
LawnStarter, Inc. is an online marketplace that connects consumers with lawn care professionals to provide a variety of lawn maintenance services. Founded in 2013 and based in Austin, Texas, the company offers essential services such as mowing, edging, and blowing, as well as specialty services like fertilization, aeration, over seeding, and leaf removal. LawnStarter facilitates instant quotes for consumers, allowing them to easily schedule lawn care services from insured professionals. The company's innovative algorithms utilize geolocation data to optimize route density for lawn care providers, enhancing their efficiency and profitability. LawnStarter operates in multiple states, including Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

LawnStarter

Pre Seed Round in 2014
LawnStarter, Inc. is an online marketplace that connects consumers with lawn care professionals to provide a variety of lawn maintenance services. Founded in 2013 and based in Austin, Texas, the company offers essential services such as mowing, edging, and blowing, as well as specialty services like fertilization, aeration, over seeding, and leaf removal. LawnStarter facilitates instant quotes for consumers, allowing them to easily schedule lawn care services from insured professionals. The company's innovative algorithms utilize geolocation data to optimize route density for lawn care providers, enhancing their efficiency and profitability. LawnStarter operates in multiple states, including Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Sickweather

Seed Round in 2014
Sickweather Inc. is a company that specializes in illness forecasting and mapping through its innovative mobile application. Founded in 2011 and based in Windsor Mill, Maryland, Sickweather utilizes patented social listening technology to scan social networks for indicators of illness. This allows the platform to detect real-time illness trends at a hyper-local level across more than 120 countries. Users receive alerts via email about potential sickness in their vicinity, and the application also provides a 15-week forecast and a threat level index known as the SickScore, effectively acting as a Doppler radar for illness.

Sworkit Health

Seed Round in 2013
Nexercise, Inc. develops Sworkit, a mobile application that enables users to find the workouts to stay fit and lose weight. It provides instructional exercise for both fitness and rehabilitative needs. Nexercise, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Nexercise

Pre Seed Round in 2013
Nexercise is a mobile platform that provides competition and real rewards to motivate busy people to lose weight and stay fit.