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This summer, the NYU Summer Launchpad Accelerator will welcome its 10th cohort! We’ll be celebrating these anniversaries with past, present and future NYU startups all summer long, but before we officially select the next cohort (applications due March 23, 2022), we want to celebrate those who have been in their shoes.
A Lookback at the First Nine Years of the NYU Summer Launchpad Accelerator
Since launching in 2013, Summer Launchpad has equipped selected teams with $10,000 in grant funding, connections to world-class investor and entrepreneur mentors, robust training and strategic guidance and a home at the Leslie eLab.
The 87 NYU startups that have participated to date have raised well over $160,000,000 in venture capital, created over 400 new jobs, and several were acquired. Numerous founders have been recognized as Forbes 30 under 30, and Inc 100 Female Founders. Nearly a quarter of the ventures have a social mission (numerous are also B-Corps or non-profits), and 62% are led (or co-led) by women!
Featured Summer Launchpad Alumni Ventures:
2013: Kinvolved: Co-Founded by Miriam Altman-Reyes (Wagner ‘13) & Alex Meis (Wagner '13). As a registered B-Corps, Kinvolved provides K–12 communications, attendance, and engagement solutions serving over 250,000 students. Kinvolved has raised venture capital from investors including Draper Richards Kaplan, Excell Partners, New York Ventures, Twilio Fund, Notation Capital, the NYU Innovation Venture Fund, and others. Just this month Kinvolved was acquired by PowerSchool!
2014: Brooklinen: Co-founded by Rich Fulop (SPS ‘07, Stern ‘14) and Vicki Fulop (CAS ‘07). Brooklinen offers bedsheets, and other home decor products direct-to-consumer. Since launching in 2014 at the end of Summer Launchpad, Brooklinen opened its first retail stores, and its products have received over 100,000 five-star reviews! Brooklinen has raised over $60M in venture capital and private equity, from investors including Firstmark Capital, Summit Partners, Freeman Spogli and the NYU Innovation Venture fund, among others.
2015: Ephemeral: Co-founded by Brennal Pierre PhD (Tandon ‘13) and Josh Sakhai (Stern ‘18), Ephemeral offers semi-permanent tattoo inks for medical, recreational & cosmetic applications. They recently opened their first tattoo studios in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. The company participated in Techstars NYC, and has raised VC from investors including Primary Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Foundation Capital and others. They've recently raised $20 million in a funding round led by Anthos Capital!
2016: GeoPipe: Co-Founded by CEO Christopher Mitchell PhD (Courant ‘16), GeoPipe offers subscription-based algorithmic tools designed to create whole-Earth digital twins, for use in applications such as gaming, autonomous driving simulations and the metaverse. GeoPipe participated in Techstars NYC, won the $1,000,000 Genius NY grand prize, and raised a seed round last year led by Village Global, joined by Matrix Partners, the Alexa Fund, AME Cloud Ventures, and others.
2017: MyWellbeing: Founded by CEO Alyssa Petersel, LMSW (Silver ‘17), MyWellbeing's patient acquisition platform has matched over 100,000 patients with therapists, helping their therapist subscribers grow their caseloads with very impressive client retention. MyWellbeing participated in the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator last year, and has raised venture capital from O’Reilly Alphatech Ventures, Chloe Capital, the NYU Innovation Venture Fund and others.
2018: Diversity Org: Founded by CEO Joshua Pierce (Tisch ‘18), The Diversity Org educates low-income high school students on how to obtain corporate and high-income careers through events, professional development and access to internships. As a non-profit organization 501c(3), the Diversity Org has partnered with dozens of corporations including JP Morgan, Warner Media, Blackstone, Verizon, Paramount Pictures and more.
2019: GigFinesse: Co-founded by CEO Mir Hwang (CAS ‘19), GigFinesse’s data-driven talent booking platform works with live music venues to seamlessly scout, book, benchmark, and pay-out artists. They’re currently operating in New York and Texas, working with high profile music venues including The Bowery Electric, Chelsea Music Hall, Meanwhile Brewing Co., and many others. GigFinesse has raised funds from several high profile angel investors as well as the NYU Innovation Venture Fund.
2020: Dathic: Co-Founded by Laura Rocha J.D. (Wagner ‘20), Dathic offers an online information service to help consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and retailers better understand and target Hispanic consumers in the US. Dathic raised its first round of VC funding from 2048 Ventures, First Row Partners, and the NYU Innovation Venture Fund in 2020.
2021: Frich: Co-founded by Aleksandra Medina (Abu Dhabi ‘21) and Katrin Kaurov, Frich has launched a mobile application that helps students set spending goals together with friends and keep each other accountable through challenges. Frich won the 2021 NYU-Yale Summer Accelerator Pitchoff and launched on university campuses across the country this past fall. Frich participated in the Falls Fintech accelerator and has raised a round from several prominent angel investors and funds.
Will your venture be the next successful NYU Summer Launchpad team? The next Summer Launchpad Accelerator takes place from June 13-August 12, 2022! Learn about the program here and RSVP for an info session on February 28, March 3, March 7 or March 21 to learn how you can be next.
