Startup incubators are popping up everywhere. Year One Labs is launching today as a “seed accelerator” in Montreal.
Similar to recently announced startup incubator AngelPad, Year One Labs was founded by four software entrepreneurs, Ben Yoskovitz, Raymond Luk, Alistair Croll and Ian Rae; with the hope of advising and funding Canadian startups based in Montreal.
Year One Labs is taking a hand-on approach to advising, focused on co-creating startups with entrepreneurs in the program. The program itself is dedicated to the “Lean Startup methodology,” which centralizes around the customer development process, validating the idea and market strategy before product development.
Besides advising and mentoring, accepted startups will receive $50,000, issued in tranches based on milestones in the development. Startups will also be able to rent space in Year One Labs for free. In exchange for this, Year One Labs takes a minority stake in startups, typically between 10 percent and 20 percent of equity.