Entrepreneurial Institute

NYU Startup Sprint & Summer Launchpad – Which One Is for You?

Posted By Ashley Garrett
on Wed, Feb 8, 2023

Stay up to date on upcoming events, deadlines, news, and more by signing up for our newsletters!

This summer, we will offer two accelerator opportunities for NYU students and recent alumni who are ready to elevate their scalable startup ideas: the Startup Sprint and Summer Launchpad.

These programs have launched dozens of successful ventures, including Brooklinen, Kinvolved, GigFinesse, GeoPipe, My Wellbeing, Pepper, Rilla, Baton, Sabai, She Matters, Govern For America, Jones, Ephemeral Tattoo, The Diversity Org, and many others. Accelerator alumni have raised over $310 million in VC, gained acceptance into prominent accelerators like Y-Combinator and TechStars NYC, and received student loan alleviation grants through the NYU Female Founders Fellowship!

Accepted teams will receive daily venture coaching, training, tools, money, and co-working space in NYC alongside a diverse community of peers from across NYU’s global campus.

Applications for the Summer Accelerators (a joint application for both Accelerators) are due March 22 at 6pm. Apply via this link. Missed all the mandatory info sessions? Please email entrepreneur@nyu.edu to request a recording.

Applications are now open!

Are you interested in applying to one of our accelerator programs 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 skill-building workshops, $500 in grant funding (+ the opportunity to apply for more), peer support from their cohort of startup teams, legal guidance from partner law firms, and more!

  • Program Dates: Mon, May 22 – Fri, June 2 (9 days - 50+ hours per week per participant)
  • Who It's For: Current NYU students, faculty, staff, and researchers (+ alumni who graduated in Fall '22 and those who will graduate in Spring ‘23) have been working on their startups for at least six months, or have an early prototype of their product or service. Strong preference is given to teams who have completed a 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: $500 for all teams (and eligibility to apply for an additional $500 in follow-on funding), $5,000 in AWS credits, expert coaching, peer feedback, founder talks, workshops, and more!
  • After The Program: Participating in a Startup Sprint is a prerequisite for participating in the Summer Launchpad (unless given express permission to skip the Startup 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 nine-week accelerator for highly scalable startups. Participating teams receive one-on-one coaching, mentorship from NYC investors and experienced entrepreneurs, immersive customer development training, legal and accounting services, and $10,000 in non-dilutive funding, all in a dynamic and community-minded atmosphere.

  • Program Dates: Tue, June 13 – Thur, Aug. 10 (9 weeks)
  • Who It's For: Current NYU students, faculty, staff, and researchers (+ alumni who graduated in Fall '22 and those who will graduate in Spring ‘23) who are ready to launch a highly scalable and differentiated venture full time (both non-profits and for-profit companies are welcome). We look for teams who: have been actively working on their venture for several months (or years); have validated problem-solution fit (and 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 Startup Sprint is a prerequisite for participating in the Summer Launchpad (unless given express permission to skip the Startup Sprint by the Entrepreneurial Institute Directors). If you feel you're a fit for the Summer Launchpad but have not yet completed a Startup 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 Startup 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 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, banking services, accounting services, and AWS and GitHub credits); expert coaching; peer feedback; founder talks; workshops; a spot to present in front of potential angel and VC investors at exclusive Demo Days; 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's 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 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 two 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 & energy (both programs are FULL TIME for 2+ members of the founding team

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 Summer Launchpad application.

Applications for the Summer Accelerators (a joint application for both Accelerators) are due March 22 at 6pm. Apply via this link. Missed all the mandatory info sessions? Please email entrepreneur@nyu.edu to request a recording.

 

Related