Dozens of Early Stage Startups to receive Scholarships into Flashstarts Pre-Accelerator
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Flashstarts, the Cleveland-based startup accelerator announced a new labs program, with a goal of allowing startup ideas to develop more rapidly and better prepare startups for demands of their intense 90-day accelerator.
The new Flashstarts Labs will allow companies to compress the details of forming a business into a much shorter time frame. That includes testing ideas, creating teams, researching markets, validating technical feasibility and selecting corporate forms and domain names. The labs will provide the quickest path between concept and startup.
The labs provide mentoring, consulting, free office space, and a wide array of startup services. Applications for individuals or teams are now open and acceptances will be on a rolling basis throughout the year. Selection criteria will include: uniqueness, market opportunity, team background, and likelihood of success. The labs will be co-located with Flashstarts Accelerator within StartMart, Cleveland's 35,000-square-foot co-working space and entrepreneurship hub.
Charles Stack, CEO and co-founder of Flashstarts, said the program is extensively reviewed and critiqued every year, and major improvements are implemented.
"This year we are adding Flashstarts Labs to allow startup ideas to develop more rapidly and better prepare startups for the demands of our intense 90 day accelerator," he said in a statement. "The Labs will assist very early stage companies in accomplishing key tasks including co-founder selection, market validation, business formation and competitive strategy."
Flashstarts also plans to organize an ongoing series of Pitch Competitions that will award winners with positions in its Labs. Each scholarship will last for six months. During that time, startups will receive free office space within Flashstarts, mentoring and a range of services designed to prepare companies for launching their business. Flashstarts Accelerator teams will be selected from teams participating in the Labs.