Techstars

aid: techstars
name: Techstars
description: >-
  Techstars is a global pre-seed startup accelerator and investor founded in 2006 by David Cohen, Brad
  Feld, David Brown, and Jared Polis in Boulder, Colorado, and headquartered in New York City. Operating a
  worldwide network of mentorship-driven accelerator programs across cities including Boulder, Boston,
  Chicago, New York, London, and Tokyo, Techstars runs an intensive three-month program that provides each
  accepted company roughly $220,000 in capital — a $20,000 convertible equity agreement for a minimum 5%
  of common stock plus an optional $200,000 uncapped MFN post-money SAFE (Asia-Pacific programs at
  ~$100,000). The firm is largely sector-agnostic but is especially active in AI/ML, fintech, SaaS,
  developer tools, healthcare, climate, space and defense, and critical infrastructure, and operates on its
  signature "Give First" philosophy. Techstars has backed more than 10,000 founders, producing dozens of
  unicorns and notable companies including Twilio, SendGrid, DigitalOcean, Uber, Remitly, Chainalysis,
  ClassPass, DataRobot, and PillPack, with portfolio companies collectively raising tens of billions in
  follow-on capital.
image: https://www.techstars.com/favicon.ico
x-type: venture-capital
x-category: Accelerator
created: '2026-07-17'
modified: '2026-07-17'
specificationVersion: '0.20'
tags:
  - Venture Capital
  - Accelerator
  - Pre-Seed
  - Seed
  - Developer Tools
  - Fintech
  - Artificial Intelligence
  - SaaS
  - Healthcare
  - Climate
  - Space & Defense
  - Global
  - North America
apis: []
common:
  - type: Website
    url: https://www.techstars.com/
  - type: Portfolio
    url: https://www.techstars.com/portfolio
  - type: Portfolio
    url: portfolio/techstars-portfolio.yml
  - type: Team
    url: https://www.techstars.com/leadership-team
  - type: Team
    url: team/techstars-team.yml
  - type: InvestmentThesis
    url: https://www.techstars.com/about
  - type: Pitch
    url: https://apply.techstars.com/
  - type: Blog
    url: https://www.techstars.com/blog
  - type: News
    url: https://www.techstars.com/newsroom
  - type: Newsletter
    url: https://accelerate.techstars.com/en/techstars-newsletter-subscribe
  - type: Jobs
    url: https://www.techstars.com/careers
  - type: Contact
    url: https://www.techstars.com/contact
  - type: LinkedIn
    url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techstars/
  - type: Twitter
    url: https://twitter.com/techstars
  - type: Features
    data:
      - "Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed (accelerator) with selective follow-on"
      - "Typical check: ~$220,000 ($20,000 CEA for min 5% common stock + $200,000 uncapped MFN post-money SAFE; ~$100,000 in Asia-Pacific programs)"
      - "Program: 3-month mentorship-driven accelerator, no participation fee"
      - "Sectors: Sector-agnostic; active in AI/ML, fintech, SaaS, developer tools, healthcare, climate, space & defense, critical infrastructure"
      - "Geography: Global network of accelerators (Boulder, Boston, Chicago, New York, London, Tokyo, and more)"
      - "Portfolio: 10,000+ founders backed; ~973 companies captured from the public portfolio page"
      - "Founded: 2006"
      - "HQ: New York City, USA (originated Boulder, Colorado)"
    sources:
      - https://www.techstars.com/about
      - https://www.techstars.com/newsroom/investment-terms
      - https://www.techstars.com/portfolio
    updated: '2026-07-17'
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: info@apievangelist.com
    url: https://apievangelist.com
  - FN: APIs.json
    url: http://apisjson.org
  - FN: Techstars
    url: https://www.techstars.com/