Tribune announces the class of 2012

Tech incubator Excelerate names class of 2012

By Wailin WongTribune reporter5:00 a.m. CDT, April 25, 2012

Chicago-based business incubator Excelerate Labs unveiled its third class of startups on Wednesday, announcing a slate of 10 companies that includes international participants.

The incubator also said it is moving its three-month program to 1871, the flexible office space for digital companies that opens next month on the 12th floor of the Merchandise Mart. Excelerate will be an anchor tenant at 1871, which can house about 400 entrepreneurs and has space for seminars and networking events.

Each of the 10 startups will receive $25,000 from Excelerate in exchange for a 6 percent equity stake. Local investment firm New World Ventures also kicks in $50,000 in convertible debt for each participant. The program brings in more than 100 mentors to help the companies build their businesses, improve technology, raise capital and in other areas. The three months culminate in a “Demo Day” at the end of August, when the startups give presentations to fellow entrepreneurs, investors and members of the local technology community.

Excelerate CEO Troy Henikoff said the program saw a 50 percent increase in applications from 2011. Many graduates of the previous two classes have gone on to raise additional funding, expand their staff or … Read Entire Article

Filed under: Excelerate in the News — April 26, 2012

TechCrunch covers Excelerate’s class of 2012

Here is what TechCrunch said about our incoming class this year – by the time Demo Day comes around, they will not only understand what Lasso does, but they will be loving it! Full Article

Filed under: Excelerate in the News —

Wall Street Journal – BabbaCo and WhimseyBox!

Who knew that the Wall Street Journal was so on top of things? The day we announce the new companies for our class of 2012, they ran a great article that included both BabbaCo (class of 2011) and WhimseyBox (class of 2012) – Awesome. Read the entire article here.

Filed under: Excelerate in the News —

When should a startup start worrying about making money?

from this week’s Crain’s Chicago Business

By Lisa Leiter March 12, 2012

Chicago’s startup revolution is in full swing. And that is causing some concern about whether the city will see déjà vu all over again from the dot-com boom and bust at the end of the last century.

Last year, Chicago companies raised $654.1 million in venture capital, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, more than any year since the peak of the dot-com bubble in 2000, when nearly $1.8 billion was raised. The number of investments: 70, the most since 2001.

Whether history will repeat itself in another boom-and-bust cycle is anyone’s guess, but—Groupon Inc.’s famous profitability challenges aside—there are key differences between the dot-com glory days and now.

Chicago investors, already more conservative than their coastal counterparts, are asking about business plans, revenue and profits earlier and in more detail than ever before.

Some Chicago entrepreneurs are responding to those investor demands, as evidenced by a presentation at one of last summer’s key startup events, incubator Excelerate Labs’ Demo Day. Food Genius co-founder Justin Massa started his pitch to the audience with this: “All right, you’re saying to yourself, ‘Food Genius, this is kind of cool. I get it. Dishes. But how in the world is it going to make money?’ “

It’s a question Mr. Massa, 33, started answering during Excelerate’s summer program. Food Genius collects data on restaurant dishes, data he plans to repackage and sell to the grocery and restaurant industry. Mr. Massa, unlike some other early-stage entrepreneurs, says developing a revenue model before pitching investors was important to him. He initially started the process of raising $700,000 to $1 million at the end of the summer but says he pulled back last fall to refine his model.

“When I do go back out to raise money a few months from now, we will have the potential to be a company that generates money, and that gives us the opportunity to raise money from the right partners for us and give us a great valuation,” he says.

Read the full article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120310/ISSUE02/303109994/when-should-a-startup-start-worrying-about-making-money#ixzz1ovZwPUm2

Filed under: Company News,Excelerate in the News — March 12, 2012

BabbaCo and Excelerate in the NYTimes

NYTimes

…Subscription models and recurring revenue also tend to impress investors — a lesson learned by Jessica Kim, founder and chief executive of BabbaCo, which is based in Chicago and sells children’s activity products. When Ms. Kim started her business in 2008, she sold wholesale products like car-seat covers and inflatable play mats. But after she was accepted into Excelerate Labs, a business-incubator program in Chicago, she got some advice from Paul Lee, one of the program’s mentors. “He told me that he noticed we had such a strong connection with our community of customers and suggested a subscription-based model,” Ms. Kim said. “That’s when it hit me that subscription models are a great way to build lifetime relationships with our customers.”

Ms. Kim came up with the idea of sending out a monthly “BabbaBox,” a box of projects, activities and books that are tied to a theme and that parents can complete with their children. The change to a subscription model had an immediate impact; Ms. Kim’s business grew more in the five months after she made the switch than it had in the previous three years combined. Just as important, Ms. Kim landed several prominent investors as a result of the change, including Mr. Lee, who is a partner in Lightbank, which was started by Eric Lefkofsky, a co-founder of Groupon….

Read the whole article

Filed under: Excelerate in the News — March 8, 2012

New funding sources emerge for Chicago-area tech startups

State of Illinois, group of industry leaders unveil separate investment initiatives

By Wailin Wong, Chicago Tribune reporterFebruary 1, 2012

The local technology sector gained two new sources of high-profile funding on Tuesday, with both the state of Illinois and a group of industry leaders unveiling investment initiatives for early-stage companies.

BuzzReferrals and Governor Quinn

Governor Quinn introducing Jordan from BuzzReferrals

The two announcements were unrelated but speak to the growing amount of entrepreneurial activity in the Chicago area. According to data collected by BuiltInChicago.org, an online community for members of the local startup scene, 124 digital startups were launched in the area in 2011, compared with 82 in 2010. Funding is also on the rise when measured by money raised and the number of companies attracting investment.

The state is joining an increasing pool of local investors eager to tap into young companies. On Tuesday, Gov. Pat Quinn announced a $575,000 investment in two local startups from the Invest Illinois Venture Fund, a new program that is, in turn, part of a $78 million initiative called Advantage Illinois. The recipients were Chicago-based Buzz Referrals, which helps companies use social media to reach friends of existing customers, and Evanston-based biopharmaceutical firm AuraSense Therapeutics.

The funding for Advantage Illinois, which seeks to help small businesses, came from an initiative within the federal Small Business Jobs Act signed into law in September 2010.

“They’re very young companies, and that’s why it’s so important for job creation,” Quinn said at a press conference.

The second investment announcement came from Matt Moog, chief executive of Viewpoints Network and the founder of BuiltInChicago.org. Moog has launched the FireStarter Fund, a $5.7 million pool composed of contributions from more than 40 founders and CEOs of digital technology companies.

Brian Hand, co-founder of Timelines, is also a co-founder of the FireStarter Fund. Moog and Hand will manage the fund along with Troy Henikoff and Sam Yagan, the founders of Chicago-based incubator Excelerate Labs.

The investors involved in FireStarter are a veritable who’s who of the Chicago tech scene and include Morningstar CEO Joe Mansueto, venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker and Kevin Willer of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. The fund will make investments between $25,000 and $500,000, with the typical amount between $150,000 and $300,000.

Read Entire Article…

Filed under: Excelerate in the News — Tags: Chicago, Funding, Press — February 1, 2012

Giving startups a kick start: Incubators dole out advice and capital

Crain’s interviews Excelerate 2011 teams about their experience.

Jessica Kim and Troy Henikoff at Excelerate Labs

Read entire article…

Filed under: Excelerate in the News — October 4, 2011

Crain’s Interviews IDEO about its work with Excelerate

Great interview by Ann Dwyer – as she talks to Iain Roberts of IDEO on their experiences mentoring Excelerate companies this year.

Read entire article…

Filed under: Excelerate in the News —

Early deadline for Summer 2012 applications is March 1st!

Excelerate Labs Tweets

Great guest post by @ethanaustin of @GiveForward on the Excelerate blog: http://t.co/hVScJQLn
@bobbrill Thanks, I will tweet now!
RT @littleislandstu: So very excited to offer promo code to @BabbaCo Outstanding activity for your kids and for gifts! LIS20OFF 20% off! ...
RT @getfoodgenius: Best Regional Burgers. What's your favorite burger and where can we find it? http://t.co/ucFPAzQ3
RT @TWistartups: Angel investor and entrepreneur Steve Chen revealed on #TWiST what he loved about investment company @Alltuition. http: ...