A few years ago, a startup accelerator called Matter.VC launched with some funding from The Knight Foundation and KQED. Since then, the San Francisco-based accelerator has been working to help usher in the next generation of media-focused startups.
Matter takes a different approach from many incubators out there in that it has a fairly long and pretty structured program for helping startups to build and iterate on their products. It has a five-month acceleration program, compared to the typical 12 weeks for accelerators like Y Combinator or 500 Startups.
The accelerator also takes a prototype-driven approach to product design, putting its startups through a series of monthly design sprints to build up, tear down, and improve their products. That starts with an initial week-long “boot camp” that gets startups familiar with the program’s way of thinking around user-centered design. At the end of every month, Matter does a design review through which companies pitch their startup, demo their product, and take constructive criticism from the rest of the group.
Matter works specifically with media-focused startups who are looking to innovate around the industry. Based in Silicon Valley, it’s hoping to bring that spirit of entrepreneurship while also providing in-roads to major media companies through its partner and mentor connections.
To learn more, watch the video above, and check out some other episodes of Incubated.
This is the third of ten episodes for a new TechCrunch TV series called Incubated. We’ll have a new episode after Wednesday afternoon for the next two-and-a-half months, each of which will take a look at what it’s like inside some of the top accelerators in the U.S. Please join us each week to find out how all the different incubators and accelerators help out the startups that participate in them.
Check out all the episodes of Incubated here:
- Incubated: How The 500 Startups Accelerator Helps Startups Get Noticed
- Incubated: Capital Factory Uses The Austin Community To Lead Startups To Success
- Incubated: Inside Matter.VC’s Structured Approach To Helping Media Startups
- Incubated: How Amplify.LA Helps LA-Based Startups Grow
- Incubated: Y Combinator’s Approach To Finding And Helping Startups Become Big Winners
- Incubated: Media Camp Helps Startups Get Connected With Hollywood Decision-Makers
- Incubated: MuckerLab’s Hands-On Approach To Accelerating Startup Growth
- Incubated: How StartX Helps Stanford-Affiliated Founders Get Their Companies Off The Ground
Additional video footage shot by Matter.VC Program Coordinator Lara Ortiz-Luis