New Orleans’ First Tech Incubator, Launch Pad Ignition, Debuts Its Second Batch Of Startups
Launch Pad Ignition, the first tech incubator to make its home in the Big Easy, today officially unveiled the seven companies that participated in its second annual session.
The accelerator’s 12-week program began the second week of February and culminated yesterday with its own New Orleans rendition of the patented “Demo Day,” appropriately called “Launch Fest,” which we’ve been told is “Jazz Fest plus startups, on steroids.” Launch Pad’s model is a bit different than that of the traditional accelerator, in that Co-founder Chris Schultz tells us it’s geared towards building traction, not offering big early funding.
It’s actually a bit of a spin on Founder Institute’s approach. Launch Pad has done away with the “fixed funding” model and instead chooses to engage startups on more flexible terms that “don’t impact their valuation.” The accelerator seeks to offer value from its mentor network, which includes investors, executives, and founders of Particle Code, Microsoft, Aol Ventures, BetterWorks, Ning, Whole Foods, Skillshare, Lerer Ventures, AudioSocket, etc., as well as a lean startup curriculum, and connections to New York and Silicon Valley.
Rather than putting up capital up front in exchange for equity, Launch Pad offers founding teams a 3 percent stock warrant grant with 1 percent of that going into a “founder’s collective” so that each company has a shared stake in other members of its class. The team and mentors then follow that up by actively fundraising for the companies at the end of the program, at Launch Fest and beyond.
In relation to Jazz Fest, the accelerator actually does host its demo day right before the famed festival begins, so that investors have reason to visit New Orleans, and it gives startups a chance to blow off some steam, New Orleans-style.
Of course, some people may be rolling their eyes, calling this another example of a growing accelerator bubble. Or maybe blubble. But given New Orleans’ recent history, building a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem has special value to a city that’s struggled to get back on its feet. The accelerator recently hosted an “Angel 101” lunch, led by 500 Startups’ Paul Singh, who is on a mission to familiarize angels with early-stage tech investing in New Orleans, the idea being that seeding local angels with national early-stage capital will be the key to driving deals in New Orleans.
Dan Parham, the founder of Neighborland, which just raised $1.2M from local and national investors, has also been talking to startups about the value of incubating a company in New Orleans and remaining engaged, even as he builds his company in San Francisco.
Launch Pad’s demo days are increasingly becoming attractions to investors, as more than 60 angels and VCs showed up at this year’s event, including those from Union Square, 500 Startups, and True Ventures. And apparently, it’s more than just for show or for charity, as local venture firm Abstraction Ventures provided seed funding for three of the seven companies. While one more is announcing a separate seed round, and VoteIt, has already raised an $800K round. (Read our coverage here.)
Today, six of Launch Pad’s seven companies launched products in beta, and Kinobi, the odd-man-out, plans to launch within 90 days. The accelerator is attempting to go for the “stage agnostic” approach, offering its services to both very early-stage companies as well as those that are a little further along. VoteIt being a good example of the latter.
For more, check out Launch Pag Ignition at home here. Without further ado, here’s a brief, lightly edited intro to the seven companies: