2019 VVM Startup Accelerator
STARTUP ACCELERATOR PARTICIPANTS . . .
What's it like at VVM? Watch this video to learn more!
Get: Five months of intense training and support.
Tap: Subject matter experts, investors, and highly engaged and collaborative peers.
Access: Free office space during the accelerator.
Compete: Win up to $50,000 (equity-free!) to develop your business.
Balance: The "long weekend" structure of our accelerator allows people with day jobs and/or significant family commitments the ability to fully engage.
Inclusion: VVM supports diversity and inclusion in our community and in all of our programs. We are proud that startups of all industries, and founders of all stripes, thrive at VVM.
“This is an amazing program that helped us advance our business so much faster than we could have on our own! We learned so many valuable skills with pitching, projections and getting ready to talk to investors. There is so much support from the mentors, staff and other business in the program. Everyone is trying to help you succeed. This is not something you find at other places. I highly recommend this program to anyone who is motivated to scale their business.”
GAN Benefits
Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) Startup Accelerator is a part of GAN, which is described as “a highly-curated community of independent accelerators, corporates, and investors." The network offers expansive opportunities for VVM’s Accelerator startups and for VVM as a whole including:
Over $1M in Savings and stuff for free: From Cloud hosting credits to airline tickets to CRMs, you are likely to find what you need.
GAN Coworking Exchange: Connect with the global community and work for free for up to two weeks at a participating GAN Accelerator almost anywhere in the world.
GAN Investor Network: Connect with GAN Ventures, the investment arm of GAN creating catalytic capital for seed stage companies coming out of GAN Accelerators.
“I’ve seen some of the best accelerators and biggest demo days across the country, but I must say the folks at VVM are doing something very special in Western Massachusetts.”
THE PROGRAM
Core training, meetings, and events held in "long weekend" bootcamps, featuring hands-on training, expert-led lectures, peer collaboration, advisor office hours, and practice judging rounds. In addition, workshops cover strategy, innovation, marketing, sales, team-building, operating best practices, and fundraising. Teams then participate in a public showcase and rounds of competition to win equity-free funding.
What 2017 Accelerator Participants Said About The Program:
“What the program did was really push me out of my comfort zone to see myself as an entrepreneur in a different kind of way. ”
“It’s like it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your credentials are, it’s about the idea. ”
“It’s just been great for networking. It’s been great for personal development. It’s been great for business development. I’ve made relationships with people that will last a lifetime... just a bunch of bright, helpful, talented people that are trying to do something positive.”
“I was in this amazing pool of multi-cultural, intelligent, people... so they nailed it with diversity, they nailed it. ”
“I don’t know that I would have ruled out certain customer segments as quickly if I weren’t in the accelerator....”