Startup accelerator Techstars has launched a post-accelerator program, called Techstars++ that provides exposure for entrepreneurs who have completed the Techstars accelerator. Techstars’ launch partner is Mayo Clinic.
Post-accelerator startups can use the Techstars++ network to spend time learning from and engaging with a corporate partner.
“For example, after completing Techstars, healthcare-oriented companies can spend two weeks at the Mayo Clinic exploring business development opportunities and other synergies,” Techstars CEO David Cohen explained in a blog post. “A full time Techstars program director will reside on-site and work closely with the startups and the corporation to help maximize the opportunity.”
Techstars plans to add other corporate partners soon.
Prior to this partnership with Mayo Clinic, the accelerator has been involved in a couple health-related accelerator projects. Two years ago, Nike announced a Nike+ Accelerator program that it launched through Techstars. Nike accepted 10 startups that were working on apps that used Nike’s APIs.
Then, last year, Sprint and Techstars launched a mobile health accelerator in Kansas City, the hometown region of Sprint, that mentored 10 startups. The parameters given for companies in the program were “any tech-powered start-up who has an innovative idea for a product and/or service that will propel mobile health forward.”
While neither the Mayo Clinic nor Techstars has announced whether any recent graduates of the accelerator program plan to take advantage of their new partnership, a few recent health-related Techstar graduates include: hospital software startup Yosko, wellness app EveryMove, behavior change startup Change Collective, and medical information analyzer HermesIQ.
