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This summer we are offering two opportunities for NYU students and recent alumni to pursue their entrepreneurial journeys: the NYU Summer Startup Sprint and NYU Summer Launchpad. Alumni of these programs, including Pepper, Brooklinen, Govern for America, dathic, The Diversity Org, and others, have gone on to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in investments and grants, be accepted into prominent accelerators like Y-Combinator and TechStars NYC, and received student loan alleviation grants through the NYU Female Founders Fellowship! Sign up for an info session to learn more!
Applications are now open!
Apply to the Summer Accelerators (joint application for both Accelerators) via this link, by March 23 at 6pm!
Info sessions:
Applications for both programs (joint application) will be due March 23 at 6pm. An application link will be sent to info session attendees after the session.
Are you interested in applying to an accelerator program this summer, but don't know which one is for you? Read on!
NYU Startup Sprint (Summer Edition)
The Startup Sprint is a two-week, intensive program that provides startup teams with tailored coaching and deep interaction with their customers. During the program, teams will work extensively with startup experts as they conduct rigorous customer discovery to refine their business models. Teams will be provided with skills-building workshops, grant funding, peer support from their cohort of startup teams, legal guidance from partner law firms and more!
- Program Dates: Mon, May 23 – Fri, June 3, 2022 (9 days - 50+ hours per week per participant)
- Who it's for: Current students and recent alumni (graduated in Fall '21 or after) who have been working on their startups for at least 6 months, or have an early mock-up or prototype of their product or service. Strong preference for teams who have completed a NYU Startup Bootcamp.
- Goal: To deeply understand their customer's needs and purchase behaviors, and test the value of their potential solution.
- During the program, you will: Create multiple hypotheses for your business, test them by speaking to 50+ potential customers, and deep dive into all aspects of your business model.
- Resources: $1,000 at the start of the program and eligibility for up to $1,500 in follow-on funding (reimbursable expenses), $5,000 in AWS credits, expert coaching, peer feedback, founder talks, workshops, and more!
- After the program: Participating in a Sprint is a prerequisite for participating in the Summer Launchpad (unless given express permission to skip the Sprint by the Entrepreneurial Institute Directors). Participation in this program makes you eligible to apply to the NSF I-Corps program (for tech-ventures only), which provides $50K in funding for further customer development. All teams will have ongoing access to coaching and will be invited to participate in office hours with VCs, accelerators, legal firms and accounting firms.
NYU Summer Launchpad
The NYU Summer Launchpad (SLP) is an immersive 9-week accelerator for highly scalable startups led by NYU students (including those graduating in '21). 10 teams receive one-on-one coaching, mentorship from NYC investors and experienced entrepreneurs, immersive customer development training, legal and accounting services via Brown Rudnick and EisnerAmper, and $10,000 in non-dilutive funding, all in a dynamic, community-minded atmosphere.
- Program Dates: June 13th – August 12th (9 weeks)
- Who it's for: Students and recent alumni (graduated in Fall '21 or after), ready to launch a highly scalable and differentiated venture full time (can be non-profit or for profit). We look for teams who have been actively working on their venture for several months (or years), who have validated problem-solution fit (have evidence they have validated this with customers), have a solution prototype, and ideally have some customer traction (via having completed extensive customer discovery, establishing pilot partners, pre-sales etc.). NOTE: Participating in a Sprint is a prerequisite for participating in the Summer Launchpad (unless given express permission to skip the Sprint by the Entrepreneurial Institute Directors). So if you feel you're a fit for the Summer Launchpad but have not yet completed a Sprint you should apply to BOTH programs. Note that, by definition, teams who are a good fit for the Summer Launchpad will be much farther along than those who will be a good fit for the Sprint.
- Goal: To refine your business model, achieve product-market fit and fully launch and scale your startup!
- During the program, you will: Do a deep dive into and refine all aspects of your business model, establish and meet the milestones and metrics you’ll need to reach to launch your venture, run iterative experiments and build solutions to advance your solution readiness level, refine each aspect of the business model, and learn advanced customer acquisition, business operations, and financial skills relevant to growing your startup.
- Resources: $10,000 in grant funding, $15,000 in perks including legal services (free incorporation), banking services, accounting services (free accounting setup) and cloud computing credits ($10,000 AWS credits), expert coaching, peer feedback, founder talks, workshops, a pitch-off competition against Yale, a Demo Day in the fall to present your startup to potential investors/the NYC startup community, and more!
- After the program: Select founders will be encouraged to apply for the Female Founders Fellowship, and select team members will be invited to join the Leslie eLab Founders In Residence team. Teams will also be invited to participate in two "Demo Days" - a public demo day in front of the whole community, and a private demo day to a select group of investors and alumni. All teams will have ongoing access to coaching and will be invited to participate in office hours with VCs, accelerators, legal firms and accounting firms. Many Summer Launchpad alumni go on to participate in other accelerators such as Y-Combinator and TechStars.
In general for both programs, we are looking for multidisciplinary teams of 2 or more (full-time) founders who are:
- In love with a problem they want to solve, not committed to a specific solution
- Looking to learn & seeking customer input
- Capable of building & executing
- Looking to build a business
- Ready to commit their time and energy (both programs are FULL TIME for 2+ members of the founding team)
Attending an info session is mandatory before applying to either program, so make sure to RSVP (if you can't attend any info session time please email entrepreneur@nyu.edu for a recording):
- Mon, Feb 28th, 12:00–1:30PM EST via Zoom
- Thu, Mar 3rd, 4:00–5:30PM EST in person, at the Leslie eLab (16 Washington Pl.)
- Mon, Mar 7th, 3:00-4:00PM EST via Zoom
- Mon, Mar 21st, 4:00-5:30PM EST via Zoom
We strongly encourage all interested teams to apply for a Startup Bootcamp so we can get to know your venture, in advance of submitting your Sprint and/or Launchpad application.
Applications for both programs (joint application) will be due March 23 at 6pm. An application link will be sent to info session attendees after the session.
