Revision as of 16:51, 24 January 2017

End of Semester Notes

McNair Project
Accelerator Seed List (Data)
Project Information
Project Title
Start Date
Deadline
Primary Billing
Notes
Has project status
	Copyright © 2016 edegan.com. All Rights Reserved.

We have compiled a very long list of accelerators from many different databases. For the past couple of weeks, everyone in the center has been going through this list, 20 at a time, classifying each one as an accelerator or not an accelerator, and then proceeding to gather data on the accelerator using the process outlined below. This process went very smoothly. We have successfully gone through about 80% of the list. We are still missing information on the last hundred or so names. All of the collected data is located on the RDP, within the "Accelerators" folder under "Data".

Data Collection Notes

3 files

For each accelerator in the list, put files in E:\Projects\Accelerators\Data

AcceleratorName.txt - copy and paste the variables below into a (tab-delimited) txt file and complete
AcceleratorName.cohort - your cohort text file (see below)
AcceleratorName.html (possibly automatically with a folder too) - save a copy of the html of the cohort page

.txt Variables

Name	
Score	
Flag	
CohortURL	
Address	
Duration	
Vintage		
Industry	
Description	
Equity	
NonProfit	 
Notes

Try to get Name, Score, Flag, Cohort URL and Address for all. ONLY GRAB OTHER VARIABLES IF EASY. Just leave things blank if you can't find them quickly.

If the score is 0, or the flag is S, I, A, or F just stop - don't bother downloading a cohort list, saving an HTML file, etc. If possible, do stick a very brief description of the problem in the notes field.

Notes:

Score: is 0-1 where 0 is definitely not an accelerator, 1 is definitely an accelerator
Flag: (leave blank if not needed), if multiple then separate by comma
- S for social entrep
- I for incubator
- A for an angel group
- F is for foreign
- C for in coworking space/hub/etc
- V for if part of venture fund
- D is for Dead
Put just the root URL in Cohort URL if there isn't a Cohort page
Duration: in wks (months x 4.33 and round)
Vintage is year of first cohort if possible
Industry is industry focus but only if clear focus
Equity is a number (don't put %) or Y/N
Notes is only there if need it. Particularly try to use this field to note discards.

.cohort files

Your .cohort files must:

Be tab delimited txt
Have a header
The first column must be the portfolio company name
Grab as many columns as you can easily (and name them)

Sign-Ups

Ed - 1-10 (done)
Carlin -  11-20 (done)
Carlin - 21-40 (done)
Christy - 41-60 (done)
Avesh - 61-80 (done)
Eliza - 81-100 (done)
Meghana - 101-120 (done)
Peter - 121-140 (done)
Ramee - 141-160 (done)
Will - 161-180 (done through 167)
Matthew - 181-200 (done)
Julia - 201-220 (done)
Peter - 221-240 (done)
Shrey - 241-260 (done)
Matthew - 261-280 (done)
Eliza - 281-300 (done)
Julia - 301-320 (done)
Shrey - 321-340 (done)
Carlin - 341-361 (done)
Julia - 362-380 (done)
Dylan - 381-393 (done)
Jake - 394-404
Dylan - 405-410 (done)
Avesh - 411-415
Dylan - 416-423 (done)
Peter - 424-460(done)
Carlin - 461-480 (done)
Peter - 481-490(done)
Julia - 491-510 (done)
Peter - 511-515
Julia - 516-529 (done)
Ben - 530-540
Shrey - 541-551 (done)

List of Accelerators

10Xelerator
1440
33entrepreneurs
500 Startups
9Mile Labs
AIA Accelerator
ARK Challenge
AT&T Aspire Accelerator
ATDC Community
AZ TechCelerator
AccelFoods
Acceleprise
Accelerate Baltimore
Accelerate Genius
Accelerate Tectoria Accelerator
Accelerator Centre
Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)
Airbus BizLab
Alchemist Accelerator
AlphaLab
Amplify.LA
Angel Capital
Angelcube
Angelpad
Annual Business BootCamp
Arizona Center for Innovation
Arizona Furnace
Arrowhead Tech Incubator 2016
Aspire 3 Accelerator 2017
Atlanta Ventures Accelerator
AutoXLR8R
Awesome Inc.
Axel Springer Plug and Play
B 4 Change Impact Accelerator
B2B Acceleration Program
B4C Social Venture Accelerator
BBC Worldwide Labs
BMW Startup Garage
Brandcelerate
Bunker Labs
Bank of Ireland Accelerator Programme
Bantunium Labs Accelerator
Barclays Accelerator
Barclays New York Summer 2015
Berkley Ventures
Bessemer Business Incubation System
Beta-i
Beta.MN
BetaFactory
BetaSpring
Betablox
Betaspring RevUp (DUPLICATE)
Bethnal Green Ventures
BioAccel
BioInspire
Bir 2015
BitAngel Engagement Level
BitAngels Startup Summer Program of 2013
Bizdom
Black Forest Accelerator
Blue Startups
Blueprint Health
Bolt Boston
Bonnier Accelerator
BoomStartup
BoomStartup Winter 2017 (DUPLICATE)
Boomtown Accelerator
Boomtown Health Tech (DUPLICATE)
Boost VC
BootupLabs
Brandery
Brooklyn Beta Summer Camp
Budweiser Dream Brewery
Buildit
BuiltinPGH Companies
Business Innovation Center
Business Opportunity Academy 2017
Business Technology Development Center (BizTech)
CLT Joules Energy Accelerator 2014
CWI Ventures
CWI Ventures Application (DUPLICATE)
CableLabs Technology Tours 2016
Capital Factory
Capital Innovators
Capital Investment Network (Startups)
Caroline Plouff
Catalyst Partners
Cause Collective : Social Innovation Lab
Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation
Chain Reaction Innovations 2017
Chemical Angel Network
Chinaccelerator
Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence
Citi Accelerator
Citrix Startup Accelerator
Claremont/Upland Makerspace Fablab
Climate Ventures 2.0 Accelerator
Co.Lab accelerator
Code for America Accelerator
Cohab's Traxtion Point
Collision Conference Investors
Common Bond
Communitech Hyperdrive
Conquer Accelerator
Coolhouse Labs
CuriousMinds Incubator / Accelerator
CyberTECH San Diego
DBS Accelerator
DPD Last Mile labs
DV X Labs
Dat Ventures
Decatur-Morgan County Entrepreneurial Center
Deep Space Ventures
Demo Accelerator 2016- 2017
DeveloperTown
Difference Engine
Digital Malaysia Corporate Accelerator Program
Digital Media Zone Incubator/Accelerator
Disney Accelerator
DogFish Accelerator
Domi Station
Dotforge accelerator
Dream Funded
DreamIT Health
DreamStart - Free Mentoring Program
Dreamit Ventures (DUPLICATE)
Ducky Diggy Lloyd
E-Capital Summit
EC Mentor Skills Inventory
EIGERlab
ETRAC
EY Startup Challenge
Eco Holding
Eleven Startup Accelerator
Emerge Xcelerate
EnterpriseWorks Incubation Program
Entrepreneur Development Center
Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator
Environmental Business Cluster
Equity Legal
Excelerate Labs
Execution Labs
Exhilarator
Extreme Startups
Extreme University
FOOD-X
Factory45
Fargo Startup House 2014-2015
FastTrack Propero Healthcare
FbFund
Female Propeller for High Flyers
FinTech Innovation Lab
FinTech Studios 2015
Fintech Founders Club #2
First Growth Venture Network
Fishbowl Labs AOL
Flagship Enterprise Center
FlashStarts
Flashpoint
Flat6 Labs
Fledge9
Flextronics Lab IX
Food Future Scale-up Accelerator 2017
Food System 6 (FS6) Accelerator
FoodForwardX
Fortify Ventures
Founder Institute
FounderFuel
FoundersPad
Fownders Accelerator
French Accelerator 2016
Fund the Food
Fuse Corps Host
GAKKEN Accelerator Program
Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center
Game CoLab Incubator Program 2014
GameFounders
GammaRebels
Gazelle Lab
Gener8tor
German Accelerator Life Sciences
German Accelerator Tech
Global Accelerator Network 2015
Good Works Houston Lab
GoodCompany Ventures
Google Launchpad Accelerator
Grants4Apps Accelerator
GreenStart
Greenlite Labs
GrowLab
Growth Hacking Accelerator 2015
Gulf Coast Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
H-Farm Ventures
HACKT Mission for International Founders
HAXLR8R
HCC Entrepreneurship Launchpad
HIGHLINE Academy
HUB
HUBB Accelerator
HUBB GTLA 2016
HackFWD
Hatch
Health Wildcatters
Health accelerator
Healthbox
Hero City Co-Working Space
High Street Startups Accelerator
Highway1
Honda Xcelerator
Houston Technology Center
Hub Ventures
HugeThing
I/O ventures
ICONYC labs
IDC Elevator
INcubes Funnel and Accelerator 2014/2015
INcubes Online Form
INcubes Startup Visa
Illumina Accelerator
Illuminator, New York Accelerator 2015
Imagine K12
Immokalee Business Development Center
Impact Engine
Impact USA - 2017
Incubate Miami
Infuse Accelerator
Ingenuity Partner Program
InnoSpring
Innov&Connect
Innov8 for Health
Innova Memhis Application
InnovateOC
Innovation Depot
Innovation Pavilion
Innovation Showcase Winter 2017
Insight Accelerator Labs
Intel Education Accelerator
Investment Preparedness Lab
Invoke Collective
Iowa Startup Accelerator
JFDI.Asia
JFE Accelerator SF
JLAB
Jaguar Land Rover Tech Incubator
Jolt
JumpSchool
JumpStart Foundry
Jumpstart! Boulder
JusticeXL
Kairos Boston Spring Program
Kaplan EdTech
Kick
Kick Boise
Kick LA
Kick Victoria
Kicklabs
Kinetiq Labs
L-SPARK Accelerator
LAUNCH incubator
LAUNCHub
LI TechCOMETS
LabFunding Project Accelerator 2014
Labs Venture Accelerator
Launch Chapel Hill
Launch Memphis
LaunchBox Digital
LaunchHouse
LaunchPad PEI
LaunchSpot
Launch_Academy
Launchpad Digital Health, LLC
Launchpad LA
Launchpad Long Island
Le Camping
Leading Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program
Lean Launch Ventures
LearnLaunchX
Lemnos Labs
Life Changing Labs
LiftOff Health Incubator
Lightbank Start
LightningLab
Lowe's Accelerator
MACH37
MACH37 Spring
MIT SA+P venture accelerator
MITA Institute Accelerator
MTGx MediaFactory
Mac6
Madworks Governance Accelerator
Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development - Top Gun Program
Matter
Maven Ventures Fund & Incubator
Media Camp
Melbourne Accelerator Program
Memphis BioWorks
Merck Accelerator
MergeLane 2017 Accelerator
Mergelane
Metavallon
Microsoft Accelerator
MindTheBridge
Momentum
MuckerLab
Muru-D
My5ive Accelerator 2016
N-Motion
NDRC (LaunchPad / VentureLab)
NEXT Dashboard
NMotion
NY Digital Health Accelerator
NY Fashion Tech Lab 2017
NYC ACRE
NYC SeedStart
Nashville Entrepreneur Center
Nebula Shift
Nephoscale IaaS
Nest New York
New Ventures Group
New York Digital Health Accelerator
NewME Accelerator PopUps
NewMe
Next media accelerator
NextHIT
NextStart
Nike+ Accelerator
Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NACET)
Northern England
Nxtp.labs
OCTANe
Oasis 500
OpenFund
Orange Fab
Orange Works
Orion Startups
Oxygen Accelerator
PIE
Patriot Boot Camp
Pearson Catalyst for Education
Pipeline H2O
Pitney Bowes Inc
Plarium Labs
Plug In South LA
Plug and Play
Plum Alley Investments 2016
Points of Light Accelerator
PowerHaus
Preccelerator® Program 2016
ProSiebenSat.1 Accelerator
Project Entrepreneur 2016/17
Project Healtchare
Project Lift
Project Music
Project Skyway
Propeller Venture Accelerator
Prosper Capital Accelerator
Proton Enterprises
Pushstart Accelerator
Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator
Queen Creek Business Incubator
R/GA Accelerator
RAIN Incubator/Accelerator
RJI Investment Group
Reach
RetailXelerator
Rock Health
Rocket Fuel Labs
Rockstart Accelerator
RunUp Labs
Runway IoT Accelerator 2015
SAP Startup Focus Program
SKTA Innopartners Innovation Accelerator
SPACELAB Tech Accelerator
SPARK
SPH Plug and Play
SURF Incubator
SaltMines Group Start-Up Studio
ScaleTown
Seamless IoT 2016
Searchcamp
Seed Hatchery
SeedSpot
SeedStartup
SeedSumo
Seedcamp
Seedrocket
Seeqnce
Sequoia Apps
Serval Ventures
Shenzhen Valley Ventures Incubator
Shoals Entrepreneurial Center
Shopper Futures Accelerator
Shotput Ventures
Sid Martin Biotechnology Institute
SigmaLabs Accelerator
Silicon Valley Incubator & Accelerator
SixThirty
Sixers Innovation Lab
Skywalker Accelerator
SmartHealth Activator
Smashd Labs
SoCo Nexus Accelerator Spring 2017
Social Enterprise Challenge
Socratic Labs
SparkLabs
Sparkgap
Sports Tank
Springboard
Sprint Accelerator
Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator
SproutBox
SproutCamp
Starburst Aerospace Accelerator
Start Path Europe
Start'inPost
StartEngine
StartFast Venture Accelerator
Starta Accelerator Winter 2017
Startl
Startmate
Startup Accelerator
Startup Front
Startup Next & GAN
Startup Orange County Accelerator
Startup Runway
Startup Wise Guys
Startup Zone PEI
Startup52X Accelerator
StartupCity
StartupHighway
StartupHouse Foundry program
StartupMinds Accelerator
StartupYard
Startupbootcamp
Straight Shot
Summer@Highland
Surge
SynBio axlr8r
TEB Incubation & Acceleration Center
THRIVE Accelerator III
THRIVE Open Innovation
TIM#WCAP Accelerator
TLabs
TMCx Accelerator Digital Health 2017
Tallwave
Tampa Bay Innovation Center
Tampa Bay Wave
Tandem Mobile Accelerator
Tech Nexus
Tech Wildcatters
Tech2020
TechLaunch
TechRanch
TechSquareLabs
Techstars
Techstars Music
Telenet Idealabs
Telluride Venture Accelerator
TenX
The Alchemist Accelerator
The Ark
The Bakery
The Batchery
The Brandery
The Bridge
The Center For Technology Enterprise & Development
The Chaser
The Company Lab (CO.LAB)
The Draper FinTech Connection
The Factory
The Greatest Pitch
The Harbor Accelerator
The Incubator
The Iron Yard
The Mediapreneur Incubator
The Morpheus
The New York Venture Summit
The Next Step: from idea to startup
The Refinery
The Unilever Foundry
The Venture Center's Pre-Accelerator I
The Vine OC
The Vogt Awards
The Yield Lab
The eFactory Accelerator
Think Big Partners Accelerator
TiE Angels
Tigerlabs Digital Health Accelerator
Tolstoy Summer Camp
TopSeedsLab
Travel Startups Incubator
Travelport Labs Accelerator
Travelport Labs Incubator
Triangle Startup Factory
Tumml
Tune Labs
Twin Cities Accelerator 2016
UW-Whitewater Launch Pad Accelerator
Unbank.ventures FinTech Incubator
University Technology Park
Unreasonable Institute
UpTech
Upstart Accelerator
Upstart Labs
Upstart Memphis
Uptima Business Bootcamp
Upwest Labs
VANTEC
VC FinTech Accelerator
Velocity Indiana Accelerator
Velocity Venture Catalyst
Venture Hive
Venture I
VentureOut's Enterprise Tech Expedition
Venturegeeks
Vet-Tech Accelerator
VictorySpark
Village88 Techlab
Volkswagen ERL Technology Accelerator
WHLabs
Wasabi Ventures Academy
Wayra
Wellness Accelerator
Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator
Wireless IoT
Women Innovate Mobile
XLerateHealth
XTRATOS
Xlerate Health
Y Combinator
Y&R SparkPlug 2017
YEurope
YLE Media Startup Accelerator Program
Yahoo Ad Tech Program
Yangler (online accelerator)
Year of the Startup
Yetizen Accelerator
You Is Now
Z80 Labs
ZIP Launchpad Admission
ZeroTo510
Zone Startups Calgary
designX 2017
eMerging Ventures
ezone
iStart Jax
iStart Valley
iVentures10
ignite100
innovyz start
tekMountain Accelerator

Project Summary

This project will be used to determine which accelerators are the most effective at churning out successful startups, as well as what characteristics are exhibited by these accelerators. First, we need to gather as much data as we can about as many accelerators as we can in order to look at factors that differentiate successful vs. unsuccessful ventures. Next, we need to create a web crawling program which will gather information about accelerators across the world by accessing their websites and extracting information. I believe that our overall goal with this research project is to gain insight into the methods of successful accelerators, as well as to find out what exactly differentiates very successful accelerators from dead accelerators.

Helpful Links: http://seedrankings.com/

Sources

Summary: These are sources obtained from List of Accelerators and other Google searches. We will evaluate these sources by looking at the number of accelerators they supply (as most of them are lists) and then also taking a look at the type of information they provide about each accelerator. Key data points are cohort-related data, startup-related data, and logistics of the accelerator. Better sources supply more information that the URL alone.

(Obtained from List of Accelerators and various Google searches)

(Obtained from Google search: "Accelerator Database")

seed-db is the first result that pops up
https://www.corporate-accelerators.net/database/
https://github.com/florianheinemann/www-corporate-accelerators-net/blob/master/_data/Accelerators.json
By the 5th or 6th search result, the utility diminished greatly
http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2015/03/17/the-best-startup-accelerators-of-2015-powering-a-tech-boom/#2f52fa7e34e4
http://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/the-15-best-startup-accelerators-in-the-us.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2016/03/11/the-best-startup-accelerators-of-2016/#74086a7724f2
https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/17/these-are-the-top-20-us-accelerators/
https://www.nexpcb.com/blogs/news/the-hardware-incubators-accelerators-list

Other ways used to find Accelerators (listed below "List of Sources Obtained from Various Google Searches"):

Type in generic location + "accelerators" (e.g. Houston Accelerators)

Looked at roughly the first 20 results
Used three locations as examples of accelerators that pop up

Type in a specific state + "accelerator" + "list" (e.g. Texas accelerator list) to search for more relevant lists

Once again, looked at roughly the first 20 results

Source Evaluations

Summary: These evaluations couple with each of the sources above. The evaluations provide instructions for obtaining the information listed, as well as a general review of how useful the data seems. The review serves to determine whether a crawler would be suitable for obtaining information from the source autonomously.

Source: http://www.acceleratorinfo.com/see-all.html

Opened source website
Copied Information under "All Accelerator Programs" to TextPad, already sorted. Returned 190 results
Each link on parent list leads to individual home page url of accelerator

Used sample size of 20 links, determined 16 to be accelerators, 2 to be incubators, 2 to be inactive or broken links
Many accelerators do not include founding date, most recent accelerators from around 2013-2014 (as determined from home page)

Review

Reliable source for specific URLs to older accelerators, not very helpful for more specific information.
Web crawling seems improbable because information is not readily available from source. Can potentially mine staff information or contact information from associated "about" page in the home url

Source: http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators/all

Copied "Seed Accelerators" table to TextPad, data sorted itself into lines. Returned 235 results.
Clicking on the accelerator name itself links to a page with all of its associated startups, up until 6/2016 cohort

Startup table includes:

"state"
"company name"
"website and CrunchBase links"
"cohort date"
"exit value"
"funding".

Many entries for "exit value" are missing, some values for "funding" are missing

On original seed-db webpage, each accelerator has a link to its associated home page url

From the table, each listed entry was an accelerator, although 24 accelerators out of 235 were classified as "dead"
Along with the home url, each accelerator table includes the following:

Status
Program (name)
Location
Country
Number of companies
Cumulative exit values
Cumulative funding
Average funding for startups
Median funding for startups

Many entries for "median funding" are left empty, as well as entries for all types of funding on the bottom half of the table

Review

Reliable source for accelerators, includes list of accelerators both dead and active, as well as their associated start-ups
Web crawling potential is promising; startup table is located within the source for each webpage. Can also mine any category from the accelerator table
Overall very extensive data for accelerators that are included on the list, but after cross-referencing from other sources shows that seed-db is lacking many newer accelerators; list is not all-inclusive.
Includes regional distributions for accelerator groups as well. For example, rather than just "Techstars", the group is broken into Austin, Berlin, Boston, Boulder, etc.

Source: http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators

Very similar to "http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators/all", but contains large regional accelerators as groups, rather than individual accelerators. For example, Techstars appears only once.

Copied "Seed Accelerators" table to TextPad, data sorted itself into lines. Returned 239 results.
Clicking on the accelerator name itself links to a page with all of its associated startups, up until 6/2016 cohort

Startup table includes same information as previous source, "http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators/all". However, accelerators spanning across multiple regions have their startups located under one category on this webpage.

On original seed-db webpage, each accelerator has a link to its associated home page url

From the table, each listed entry was an accelerator, although 24 accelerators/groups out of 239 were classified as "dead"
Along with the home url, each accelerator table includes the same information as the "http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators/all" source

Review

Reliable source for accelerators, includes list of accelerators both dead and active, as well as their associated start-ups
Web crawling potential is promising; startup table is located within the source for each webpage. Can also mine any category from the accelerator table
Overall very extensive data for accelerators that are included on the list, includes large groups as well as individual accelerators. It seems that some accelerators missing from "http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators/all" are located here, since there are 239 returns rather than 235.

Source: https://www.f6s.com/programs?type

On the webpage, set "Type" to "Accelerator/Program", set "Location" to "North America", and set "Invest in Country" to "United States" to return results
Highlighted results and scrolled down until all results found; copied results to TextPad
In TextPad, sorted out lines with "by", as well as miscellaneous categories such as dates and dollar signs through Regular Expressions
Using the "More Info" line which held constant through the entire list, assigned a sequential number to the line (in order to determine the number of results)

Obtained a grand total of 1467 results from the list
Along with the name of the program/accelerator, the data included:

Dollar value per team
Equity
Application Site
Accelerator URL

Many entries are not accelerators, from a quick glance through the results, there were various conferences, 3-5 days events, and written literature pertaining to accelerators as well
From a sample size of the first 30 entries, determined 10 to be valid accelerators, 3 incubators, 6 conferences/weekends, and the rest to be miscellaneous entries such as startup events or "studios" (perhaps useful but not relevant to search)
As we go down the list, the number of accelerators proportionately decreases. Can comfortably say that overall accelerator turnout from this website is much less than 33%, probably closer to 10-15%.

Review

Potentially useful website if crawler could remove the clutter and target solely the accelerators; very useful for identifying new accelerators since data automatically sorted by date and location.
Large list of sources includes many irrelevant results, such as conferences or weekends which are difficult to identify. The name of the sorting category itself, "Accelerator/Program" suggests that many of the results fall under the "Program" section rather than being valid accelerators.
Potential site for identifying accelerators, but limited by in-site sorting; useful for URL and perhaps equity, but not very detailed information relating to the accelerator/program.

Source: http://gust.com/usa-canada-accelerator-report-2015/

Selected region of US and Canada
Scrolled down to the section labeled "Top 20 Active Accelerators" and selected "see the full list" near the bottom of the listed accelerators
Copied resulting entries into TextPad and sorted out the numbers to leave only the name of the accelerator

Obtained 100 results for different accelerators
Accelerator lists included:

Name and URL
Number of Start-ups funded (2015 only)

Accelerator list limited to 2015

Review

Website provides its own evaluation of an accelerator's success based on various factors and provides data for larger trends.
Usefulness is questionable because website does not provide much except the URL, and all of the entries are based on success in 2015.
Other interesting data within website such as "Hot Markets", investment breakdowns by state, etc. All of this data is also limited to 2015.

Source: https://bostonstartupsguide.com/guide/every-boston-startup-accelerator-incubator/

Scrolled down to the section labeled "Startup accelerators in Boston"
Copied text beginning from "MassChallenge" (the first paragraph was just a general definition of startups) and continued to copy until "Startup Incubators in Boston"
After pasting in TextPad, I sorted the data to delete any characters after the "-" and added a sequential number at the beginning of each line

Returned a total of 17 results for startups in Boston
Accelerator list included:

Name and URL
Capital requirements
Application periods and requirements
Paragraph describing accelerator and its goals

Review

Although the guide is dated, useful for identifying strong accelerator programs in Boston
Limitation: only focuses on Boston, but the description is helpful in identifying the role of the accelerator
Limited information on accelerator, not very useful by itself without information from the accelerator URL

Source: https://www.corporate-accelerators.net/database/

Copied and pasted table into Microsoft Excel (Data was already sorted into categories so no need for TextPad)
Table returned 72 references (but there was a link to the bottom to a larger database)

The table itself includes:

Major Company
Accelerator
Funding
Equity
Website
Details

The "Details" link led to a variety of other information including:

Status (Active or Inactive)
Locations
Funding
Equity
Term
Cohort Based? (Regular or Irregular)
Pitch Day
Office Space
Powered by
Support Offered?
Launch year
Focus Areas
General Description

Also Included a variety of data regarding the host company as well

Review

Solid list for corporate accelerators and also includes a variety of information about the accelerator, the cohorts, etc. Some of the entries are international accelerators however so need to filter them out
Only limited to 72 accelerators from major companies

Source: https://github.com/florianheinemann/www-corporate-accelerators-net/blob/master/_data/Accelerators.json

This source is a .json file from the previous database
After placing into TextPad, replaced each space with a ###, replaced each new line with a tab, and replaced each ### with a new line. Ultimately returned 80 results

From the file, the .json includes:

NAICS and NAICS sector
Classification
Sector Description
Term
Goal
Partner

Also includes most of the information from the previous source, since they are undoubtedly linked

Review

Another solid list for corporate accelerators with some more information, but ultimately very similar to the previous source.

Source: https://www.quora.com/Where-can-I-find-a-comprehensive-list-of-startup-incubators-and-accelerators-in-the-US

Since we already looked at the first listed source (seed-db), I clicked on the second link "(by Robert Shedd) http://blog.shedd.us/321987608/" which took me to a page headed "Help for Startups! – A semi-complete list of startup accelerator programs" created by a blogger, Robert Shedd
List included 102 entries by the blogger, each of which do look like an accelerator

Upon immediate overview, noticed many results from previous sources were missing. Immediately noticed lack of "OwlSpark", the accelerator from Rice.
Shedd only offers us the accelerator name plus its URL

Review

Nice list to cross-reference with other sources but does not offer much new insight compared to more powerful engines such as seed-db\

List of Sources Obtained from Various Google Searches

Summary: These accelerators are taken from a specific Google search rather than a list. The idea is to compile a list of Google searches that return relevant results of accelerators. This will aid in the creation of a future web crawler.

From "Location + Accelerator"(Only individual results, not lists)

Houston Accelerators

Examples of single accelerators found

TMCx: http://www.tmc.edu/innovation/innovation-programs/tmcx/
RED labs: http://redlabs.uh.edu/8
SURGE accelerator: https://kirkcoburn.com/
OwlSpark: http://owlspark.com/
NextHIT: http://www.houstonhealthventures.com/nexthit-accelerator-program-application/

Los Angeles Accelerators

Amplify: http://amplify.la/
Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/
Chicklabs: https://www.chicklabsllc.com/
Disney Accelerator: https://disneyaccelerator.com/
Launchpad: https://launchpad.la/

New York Accelerators

DreamIT Ventures: http://www.dreamit.com/#meaningful-experience
Women Innovate Mobile: http://www.wim.co/
Techstars NYC: http://www.techstars.com/programs/nyc-program/
Entrepreneurs Roundtable: http://eranyc.com/
FirstGrowthVC: http://venturecrush.com/fg/
New York Digital Health Accelerator: http://digitalhealthaccelerator.com/
Grand Central Tech: http://www.grandcentraltech.com/
Accelerator Corp: http://www.acceleratorcorp.com/
New York Startup Lab: http://nystartuplab.com/

Review

Some locations return more viable results for a similar sample size. For example, New York returned 9 valid accelerators, whereas Los Angeles and Houston both returned 5 actual accelerators out of the first 20 results: an 80% difference. Some optimization may come from identifying which locations return more accelerators upon searching.

From "State+Accelerator+List"

New York Accelerator List

http://www.ongridventures.com/resources/new-york-silicon-alley-resources/newyorkaccelerators/ (Ranks 14 accelerators)
http://under30ceo.com/11-new-york-tech-incubators-and-accelerators-for-entrepreneurs/ (Ranks 11 accelerators)

California Accelerator List

http://www.socaltech.com/the_complete_guide_to_southern_california_accelerators_and_incubators_part_i/s-0040924.html (Lists accelerators in Southern Cali)
http://barberacorporatelaw.com/blog/2014/4/8/28-business-incubators-in-the-los-angeles-area (List of 24 accelerators near the LA area)

Texas Accelerator List

http://www.austinstartuplist.com/incubators (List of accelerators in Austin, <5 results)
http://www.siliconhillsnews.com/2016/09/02/the-top-texas-healthcare-accelerators-and-incubators/ (Modest list of accelerators aiding in healthcare)
http://realfoodmba.com/food-startup-accelerators/ (List of food-based accelerators, some of which are in Austin, others of which are international)

Notes:

Seed-DB appears for almost all of the search results
Acceleratorinfo appears for most of the search results
There are multiple cumulative reports of incubators per location, but not for accelerators
Most regionalized accelerator lists deal with either an article or a ranking of a particular amount of accelerators in the area
Many results returned nationally ranked lists of accelerators, such as the Forbes list of "Top Accelerators" or something along the lines of "Best Accelerators in the US". The connection is that perhaps one accelerator mentioned on the list may be located within the searched state.
There are also a few results for actual particle accelerators that must be sorted out (i.e. superconducting super collider)

Found through google searching accelerators found previously

Found from googling YLE Media Startup Accelerator

https://www.corporate-accelerators.net/database/index.html (DB of Corporate Accelerators 71-79 entries)
http://startupaccelerator.vc/accelerator-corporate-innovation-sig/ (Database of Accelerators and Corporate Innovation 92 entries)

neither of these have had their entries added to list of accelerators

Individual Accelerator Evaluations

Summary: The purpose of this section is to create instructions for each accelerator on how to find cohort information from their URLs. Along with specific instructions for obtaining the cohorts for each accelerator chosen, there should be a list of easy-to-obtain and relevant statistics regarding the accelerator, such as information about its team, location, etc. The variable statistics list is cumulative, whereas the cohort directions are unique per the accelerator.

Accelerators Chosen (Format = Name (source))

Blue Startups (http://www.acceleratorinfo.com/see-all.html)
Launchpad LA (http://www.acceleratorinfo.com/see-all.html)
Y Combinator (http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators)
FlashPoint (http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators/all)
Prosper Accelerator (https://www.f6s.com/programs?type)
Axel Springer Plug and Play (http://www.axelspringerplugandplay.com/)
Techstars (http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators)
Startmate (http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators)
Capital Factory (http://blog.shedd.us/321987608/)
OwlSpark (Google search: "Houston + accelerators")

Accelerator: Blue Startups (http://bluestartups.com/)

Finding the cohort:

Navigated to "Track Record" page under the "Home" tab; found total number of graduated cohorts to be 7
Navigated to "Portfolio" tab. Tab includes list of all seven graduated cohorts along with companies emerging from each one. Each cohort is listed under a separate page (ex. "Cohort 1", "Cohort 2", etc) and at the bottom of each cohort page, there is a link to the other 6. Each company has a short description along with its URL.
An "Alumni News" page at the bottom of "Portfolio" includes articles pertinent to graduated startups.
Unfortunately does not include the date and year of each cohort class, but perhaps could cross-reference with other sources.

Accelerator: Launchpad LA (http://launchpad.la/)

Finding the cohort:

Navigated to "Companies" in the top of the homepage
"Companies" returns all companies backed by Launchpad LA based on their class year and number (cohort)
- Also sorted by active startups vs. inactive startups
At the bottom of the "Companies" tab, there is a statistical layout returning values for the number of companies started by Launchpad during its time as an accelerator (2012-present), as well as the total funding funneled into the accelerator.

Accelerator: Y Combinator (http://www.ycombinator.com)

Finding the cohort:

Scrolled down on the home page and clicked on a link entitled "See all companies".
Navigated to a drop down menu named "All Batches", and clicked on it to expand the list.
List is made up of dates ranging from 2005-2016, and these dates return lists of launched companies including most but not all of their URL's, as well as their launch year.

Accelerator: Flashpoint (http://flashpoint.gatech.edu/)

Finding the cohort:

On upper right corner after animation, there is a tab sign which lets you navigate to a page labeled "Teams"
The "Team" page has each batch of companies emerging from Georgia Tech, although it does not include the dates or cohorts of these companies. For example, "Batch 1" at the top of the page just lists the companies in the batch without URLs or any additional information.
On the "Application" page on the tab near the top, there is information regarding Batch 7, which begins early 2017. Suggests that batch 6 either ended spring 2016 or fall 2016.

Accelerator: Prosper Women Entrepreneurs (http://www.prosperstl.com)

Finding the cohort:

Navigated to "Accelerator" tab and clicked "Companies" when prompted with the drop down menu.
This tab returned all of the launched company logos which then redirected to the company's home page when clicked.
No other relevant form of information such as date launched or cohort was included on this page.

Accelerator: Axel Springer Plug and Play(http://www.axelspringerplugandplay.com/)

Finding the cohort:

Clicked on the "Companies" tab on the home page and was directed to the middle of the page which included a short list of current companies.
Clicked on the "All Companies" link which returned a page filled with startup logos and brief descriptions of those startups. When clicked, each logo serves to redirect to that startup's home page.
Companies were not sorted by cohort or in any other relevant way.

Accelerator: Techstars (http://www.techstars.com)

Finding the cohorts:

Navigated to the Accelerators tabs and clicked "Companies" on the drop down menu.
Firstly, this returns a table comprised of a long list of different classes from different areas separated by years.
Upon scrolling down further, each of these classes is broken down by the startups that graduated from them. It also includes information such as how much was invested in each startup, as well as whether or not the startup was acquired, is active, or failed.

Accelerator: Startmate (http://www.startmate.com.au)

Finding the cohorts:

Navigated to the "Startups" tab, which returned a page of all startups that have graduated from Startmate.
Startups are separated by year of graduation, and each company is linked on this page.
It appears as if each year, 1 cohort is taken through the accelerator.

Accelerator: Capital Factory (https://capitalfactory.com/accelerate/)

Finding the cohorts:

Navigated to the startups tab, which returned a long list of companies that were accelerated by Capital Factory.
Each logo for the startups served as a link to their respective websites.
There was no evidence or mention of any cohorts.

Accelerator: OwlSpark (http://entrepreneurship.rice.edu/accelerator/)

Finding the cohorts:

Navigated to the "Startup Teams" tab, which returned a page that included links to 4 "Classes".
Each class link i.e. (Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, Class 4) returned links to each startup that graduated from the program.
These classes signify cohorts.

List of Promising Variables

Key People (founders, lead entrepreneurs, strategists, etc.)
Total number of launched companies
A FAQ for application details, accelerator vision, and
Funds raised per company (average)
Features offered by accelerator (perks, space, tools, etc)
General events hosted by the accelerator
(Success) stories for graduated start-ups

E-R Diagram (in list form) for Identifying Attributes to Pull from Accelerators

Summary: I will look at different entities within the accelerator page (e.g accelerators, cohorts, founders) and then find potential attributes that can be codified from those entities. Along with the attribute, we list a potential method for pulling that particular attribute.

Format:

Entity

Attribute - Possible sources/ways to get

Ed: "Be creative with finding new attributes to pull!"

List

Accelerators

Accelerator Name - Website, external database
Contact Form - General contact section in each website
Industry focus - can be pulled from description
Description - pulled from website itself
Takes equity? - Database or from "about" page
Non-profit? - Database
URL - Already have way of obtaining
DNS Registration Date - Already have way of obtaining
Address - Google Maps, maybe the website
Founding Date - Google Maps, website, server registration

Accelerators (1) has (n) Features

Features

Mentorship? - Description in website
Space Offered - Google Maps, Website description
Partnerships - Angel list, Same section as mentorship or events
Hosted Events - Calender

Accelerators (1) has (n) Founders

Founders

Name - Founders or Team Page
Title - Directly underneath or next to name
PhD? - Biography, webpage under name
Serial - Biography
Link back to "Accelerator Name" in Accelerators

Founders (n) has (n) Ventures

Ventures

Other Companies - Biography, webpage
Previous Companies - Biography
Net Worth - Forbes, Biography
Link back to "Name" in Founders

Accelerators (1) has (n) Cohorts

Cohorts

Date + Accelerator = Cohort ID - Database or Website
Number of Startups - Website, count from Startups
Cohort Number - Categorization on website, external database
Link back to "Accelerator Name"

Cohorts (1) has (n) Startups

Startups

Names - Website, external database
State of Inc - Angel List
URL - Angel List, website
Founding Date - Registration database, Angel List
Industry - startup description
Founding Location - Angel List
Current Location - Angel List
VC Raised to Date - SDC Platinum
Angel Funds Raised to date - Angel List

Variables which Distinguish Accelerator Websites

The word "Accelerator"
- This word appears at least one time on the home page of the vast majority of accelerator websites. The word "Accelerator" appears either as a link to another page on the website or in a title on the homepage of the website. Not many other websites contain this word on their homepage, especially not if one Googles something generic such as "Accelerators in the US".

Fixed Term
- Accelerators normally work with their cohorts for 3 months. This is a major factor which differentiates between an accelerator and any other member of a startup ecosystem. If on their website they mention either "3 months" or "12 weeks", it is extremely likely that the website belongs to an accelerator.

Cohorts, Portfolio, Class, or Companies
- This is a potential variable that could link the websites of many different accelerators. The problem with the word "portfolio" is also used by numerous venture capital firms, which could potentially cause complications when attempting to pull only the sites of accelerators from a Google search. The word "cohort", however, would have an extremely high probability of identifying the website as belonging to an accelerator. The words "class" and "companies" are promising but do not offer certainty.

Equity, Investment
- Although by itself, equity does not mean much, when paired with any of these other terms, it could potentially point to an accelerator. Most accelerators take equity in the form of common stock (6-8%), or they will ask for some alternate form of stake in the company.

Education and Mentorship
- Accelerators differ from incubators and angel investors in that they emphasize the education of the potential startup. They offer advice and intense mentorship from more experienced entrepreneurs within their staff, as well as many networking opportunities with the outside world. This variable is more difficult to find on the website of the accelerator, but I believe that if the website includes numerous keywords such as "education", "mentorship", or "networking opportunities", it would be somewhat safe to assume that the website is owned by an accelerator.

Demo Day
- This variable does not have tremendous potential in terms of crawling websites, but I feel that it is worth mentioning. Most accelerators "graduate" their cohorts with a demo day, which is a day when the startups present their company to potential investors. If the website contains the words "demo day", which is fairly uncommon, it could be a good source of accelerator identification.

A combination of any of these variables would certainly identify the current website as belonging to an accelerator.

Comprehensive List of Accelerators

All text files saved in "Accelerators" project on the McNair RPD.

Acc.Info: 190
SeedDB: 240
SARP: 59
Corp: 79
Total: 568 results

After removing duplicates and locations: 363 results

Doesn't count f6s, which returns 1170 results, roughly only 300 of which were accelerators. We created a crawler to sift through the webpages and parse HTML so we could identify the accelerators. Program and HTML saved on the Desktop.

Randomly Chosen Accelerators

TLabs
BetaSpring
The Unilever Foundry
AIA Accelerator
R/GA Accelerator
Zeroto510
Hub:raum
Orange Fab
Furnace
Launch Chapel Hill

Determining whether or not these are accelerators

Googled name of Accelerator and clicked on the first link

Looked for Variables which Distinguish Accelerator Websites

TLabs: Homepage states: "Leading Indian Tech Accelerator"; TLabs is an accelerator, but it is located in India.
Betaspring: Under the "About Betaspring" tab, it states that "Betaspring was among the first ten startup accelerators to launch worldwide".
The Unilever Foundry: Does not claim to be an accelerator, nor does it have information on the website about cohorts. This name was pulled from the source Corporate Accelerators.
AIA Accelerator: The word "accelerator" is included in the name. Under the "Overview" tab, it states that startups have received mentorship.
R/GA Accelerator: Under the "Overview" tab it states that the "R/GA Accelerator is designed for startups and... it is a three month, immersive, mentorship driven program".
Zeroto510: Website contains a "Portfolio Companies" tab which divides up the companies into cohorts. This identifies Zeroto510 as an accelerator.
Hub:raum: Offers accelerator and incubator programs; however, none are located in North America.
Orange Fab: States on the main page that "We're a 3-month accelerator program".
Furnace: "About" tab states that Furnace is "an innovative startup accelerator designed to form, incubate, and launch new companies". Concludes with a Demo Day
Launch Chapel Hill: Homepage states that they are "a startup accelerator". Also included on the homepage is a line that states "Applications for Cohort 7 are now open".

7/10 are accelerators located in the US.

2/10 are accelerators not located in the US.

1/10 is not an accelerator.

Steps for Extracting Cohort Information

TLabs: Clicked on the "Startup" tab and located a drop down menu entitled "Showing Startups from:". This menu separates startups into Batches ranging from 1-9. These batches are cohorts.
Betaspring: This website does not have a "Companies" or "Startups" tab. I clicked on their "Who" tab and noticed that within this section were two links called "Our portfolio" and "Our companies" which both linked to the same place. This place contained a list of the startups that Betaspring has funded, as well as links to each of the startup websites. The list was not separated into cohorts.
The Unilever Foundry: Does not have a "Startups" or "Companies" link on the website.
AIA Accelerator: Clicked on the "Startups" tab which returned a page with 5 companies and a bit of information on each of these companies. Also included the URL to each startup. However, the companies were not separated into cohorts, probably because there are so few of them.
R/GA Accelerator: Clicked on the "Alumni" tab and navigated down the webpage. Startups are separated by class, which means cohort in this case. Startup info contains link to demo day presentation as well as the startup url.
Zeroto510: Hovered over the "About Us" drop down menu and clicked on the "Portfolio Companies" link. Startups are separated by cohort, one for each year, starting from 2013.
Hub:raum: Clicked on the "Portfolio" tab. Directed to a page with many names of startups, as well as a brief description of what their company is about. Also includes a link to each startup's website. Startups are not separated into cohorts, but rather by investment by location, current participants, and alumni.
Orange Fab: Clicked on the "Startups" tab and was directed to a different page. Startups are not only separated into cohorts named "Seasons", but they are also separated by industry.
Furnace: Clicked on "Portfolio" tab, but unfortunately the website is broken and it returned an error in code.
Launch Chapel Hill: Clicked on the "Ventures" tab and was directed to a page in which all startups were separated into cohorts, and a brief description of the startup was provided underneath their logo.

Code

The directory for all data related to this project is located in:

E:\McNair\Projects\Accelerators

F6S Web Crawler

This is a python script using the selenium library that retrieves the html content of each page on F6S's North American Accelerator search results. The script is located in:

E:\McNair\Projects\Accelerators\F6S Accelerator HTMLs

The script is titled f6s_crawler_gentle.py

When run, the script visits the F6S search page for North American Accelerator's and begins retrieving the HTML of each page in that search list. NOTE: Timing must be spaced out between all interactions with the browser. F6S has Captcha, and the program will fail if the site receives too many hit requests, or has any inkling that it is being probed by a bot.

The Accelerator HTML files are stored in:

E:\McNair\Projects\Accelerators\F6S Accelerator HTMLs\Accelerator_HTML_files

The Accelerator HTML files stored as text files are stored in:

E:\McNair\Projects\Accelerators\F6S Accelerator HTMLs\Accelerator_HTML_files_text

F6S Parser

The next step is to take the HTML files retrieved by the crawler and to parse them for necessary information. This parser should also determine whether or not the site is an accelerator site.

The code for the parser is located in

E:\McNair\Projects\Accelerators\F6S Accelerator HTMLs

It is titled f6s_parser.py

To run the code, open the file in Komodo and press play. If running from the command line, change to the correct directory and run the following comand:

python f6s_parser.py

The list of accelerators that passed through the parser is in the same directory:

E:\McNair\Projects\Accelerators\F6S Accelerator HTMLs

The tab delimited text file is named AcceleratorList. The file contains the names of the accelerators that had the keywords listed in the file. Also, the file contains the run dates and location of the accelerator if it was listed on the f6s page.

F6S API

F6S has an API, but we have had no success getting a key to the API. The link to get a key to the API is on this page.

I (Peter) have emailed F6S to ask for a key directly at support@f6s.com. As of the end of the Fall 2016 Semester, they have not responded.

FUN FACT (MASS-RENAME FILES USING WINDOWS POWER SHELL):

The following command allowed me to append ".txt" to all files in a folder once in the proper directory:

Get-ChildItem * | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.name + '.txt'}

To change file formats, Microsoft suggests:

Get-ChildItem *.txt | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.name -Replace '\.txt', '.log'}

Final Data

The Parser for parsing the text files of accelerator data is located in:

E:\McNair\Projects\Accelerators\Code+Final_Data

This folder contains the Python parser and the final tab-delimited text file that contains the parsed data. final_accelerator_data.txt contains the generalized data saved in .txt files.

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 #DreamIT Health
 #DreamStart - Free Mentoring Program
-#Dreamit Ventures
+#Dreamit Ventures (DUPLICATE)
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Difference between revisions of "Accelerator Seed List (Data)"

Revision as of 16:51, 24 January 2017

Contents

End of Semester Notes

Data Collection Notes

3 files

.txt Variables

.cohort files

Sign-Ups

List of Accelerators

Project Summary

Sources

Source Evaluations

Source: http://www.acceleratorinfo.com/see-all.html

Review

Source: http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators/all

Review

Source: http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators

Review

Source: https://www.f6s.com/programs?type

Review

Source: http://gust.com/usa-canada-accelerator-report-2015/

Review

Source: https://bostonstartupsguide.com/guide/every-boston-startup-accelerator-incubator/

Review

Source: https://www.corporate-accelerators.net/database/

Review

Source: https://github.com/florianheinemann/www-corporate-accelerators-net/blob/master/_data/Accelerators.json

Review

Source: https://www.quora.com/Where-can-I-find-a-comprehensive-list-of-startup-incubators-and-accelerators-in-the-US

Review

List of Sources Obtained from Various Google Searches

From "Location + Accelerator"(Only individual results, not lists)

Houston Accelerators

Los Angeles Accelerators

New York Accelerators

Review

From "State+Accelerator+List"

New York Accelerator List

California Accelerator List

Texas Accelerator List

Colorado Accelerator List

Washington Accelerator List

Oregon Accelerator List

Found through google searching accelerators found previously

Individual Accelerator Evaluations

Accelerators Chosen (Format = Name (source))

Accelerator: Blue Startups (http://bluestartups.com/)

Accelerator: Launchpad LA (http://launchpad.la/)

Accelerator: Y Combinator (http://www.ycombinator.com)

Accelerator: Flashpoint (http://flashpoint.gatech.edu/)

Accelerator: Prosper Women Entrepreneurs (http://www.prosperstl.com)

Accelerator: Axel Springer Plug and Play(http://www.axelspringerplugandplay.com/)

Accelerator: Techstars (http://www.techstars.com)

Accelerator: Startmate (http://www.startmate.com.au)

Accelerator: Capital Factory (https://capitalfactory.com/accelerate/)

Accelerator: OwlSpark (http://entrepreneurship.rice.edu/accelerator/)

List of Promising Variables

E-R Diagram (in list form) for Identifying Attributes to Pull from Accelerators

List

Variables which Distinguish Accelerator Websites

Comprehensive List of Accelerators

Randomly Chosen Accelerators

Determining whether or not these are accelerators

Steps for Extracting Cohort Information

Code

F6S Web Crawler

F6S Parser

F6S API

Final Data

Navigation menu

Search