DreamIt Ventures has just opened up the application process for their third annual New York city Accelerator program, which will begin in mid-May and run to mid-August. The program offers $25,000 in seed funding, as well as collaborative work space, mentoring, exclusive speaking engagements with industry leaders, and an opportunity to pitch to investors on Demo Day.
DreamIt has been on a bit of a spree when it comes to launching more centralized, focused accelerators, such as DreamIt Health and DreamIt Access (which focuses on minority-led startups).
Those ventures will surely come in handy considering that this batch of NYC companies will be benefiting from a new program, designed to send education-tech startups, Israeli-based companies, and minority-led businesses down different, specialized tracks.
We spoke to Mark Wachen, managing director at DreamIt, who had this to say about the new track-based program:
We’ve seen a trend of more-and-more developed ideas with each passing cycle, and we expect that trend to continue. When DreamIt started in 2008, many of the applications were of the “idea on a napkin” variety. While we still receive some applications like this, nowadays the majority of the applications are much more sophisticated with advanced betas or live sites, video demos, and often some initial customer traction.
As for types of applicants, we certainly expect mobile to be well-represented. Also, we would expect to see more enterprise software companies given some of the recent press. But sometimes the most interesting companies are the ones that defy the trends or are slightly off the beaten path, so we’re looking forward to reviewing a full spectrum of ideas.
Startl, a social enterprise that partners with DreamIt Ventures, will also be involved with this class of startups making progress in the education space. The idea is that a leaner investment arm with multiple partners (one of which is DreamIt) can respond more quickly to the most disruptive education technology.
Startl worked with DreamIt on its first two cycles, and is in part responsible for the launches of ed-tech sensations like MindSnacks and Hoot.me.
Those interested in disrupting the land of learning by taking a trip down the Startl track should apply here.
DreamIt Ventures is also opening up access to the DreamIt Access track, which gives an extra boost to minority-led startups launching in New York. Comcast Ventures is partnering with the accelerator here, offering investment through its $20 million Opportunity fund.
There are already 15 companies in the DreamIt Access program, but DreamIt is ready to take five more companies in this NYC summer class to take the DreamIt Access track.
If Access seems like the right track for you, apply here.
Finally, DreamIt is bringing DreamIt Israel back into the mix in NYC. Just like the setup with DreamIt Access, DreamIt Israel is taking five more companies who will spend time both in NYC and Israel over the course of the program. The hope is that companies from Israel will be able to get true feedback within their target market to perfect their product for the demographic it’s aimed at.
Startups interested in the Israel-based track should sign up here.