SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 22, 2013) - TiE Silicon Valley announced today that it is taking applications for its new accelerator program TiE LaunchPad: a "mentor-funded" seed fund and accelerator for enterprise startups. TiE, a global network of entrepreneurs and business professionals, which has been mentoring entrepreneurs for over 20 years, will provide startups with a unique combination of mind, money and market access through its unique accelerator program. TiE LaunchPad is for entrepreneurs with strong technology backgrounds who are solving critical enterprise problems in cloud, infrastructure, mobility and other enterprise technology spaces. The goal of the program is to help startups validate their markets and begin early customer development using a multi-pronged approach:
1. A customer discovery and validation process based on Lean Startup principles
2. A curriculum of accomplished instructors to deliver best practices in company building
3. A dedicated "Charter Member" to mentor each company
To lead the program, Prashant Shah has been named Managing Director of TiE LaunchPad. "Prashant is ideally suited to run the accelerator with his experience as a venture capitalist and Head of TiE Angels, an angel investing forum at TiE Silicon Valley," says Venk Shukla, President of TiE Silicon Valley.
Mind
TiE is organized by a group of seasoned executives known as Charter Members. "Charter Membership is by invitation only and TiE Silicon Valley consists of nearly 300 of highly accomplished entrepreneurs, investors and technology executives," says Shukla. "Charter Members have been mentoring entrepreneurs since 1992 and now we are putting the power of that talent behind a structured accelerator program to rapidly grow startups."
More than 50 Charter Members have already joined TiE LaunchPad as mentors including serial entrepreneurs, VCs, CIOs, CMOs, and more. "This is a great opportunity for startups to harness the experience of a Charter Member who they get to pick based on domain expertise," says Prashant Shah.
Money
Accepting up to 8 companies per batch, startups are seeded with $50,000 in convertible notes and offered optional working space, infrastructure and additional support services at TiE Silicon Valley for a 5 month duration. The seed capital for the startups comes from a $5M fund raised from Charter Members. Companies also get assistance in fund raising by presenting to TiE's extensive reach of investors at a demo day at the end of the program. The fee for joining TiE LaunchPad is 3% common shares, the most entrepreneur-friendly term in the industry.
Market Access
Participating startup companies receive unprecedented access to TiE Silicon Valley's wealth of events, conferences and workshops throughout the year. With over 2,000 local members, the networking opportunities available allow for business partnerships to thrive outside the accelerator itself.
"With customer and market validation in the limelight, the culture and community behind TiE allow for the tough questions, such as product definitions and market fit, to be identified and answered immediately," states Shah. "This is uniquely a TiE model where Charter Members provide their counsel, capital and contacts. If you're an enterprise startup, this is the ideal accelerator to join."
TiE LaunchPad applications are now open for the inaugural batch starting January 6, 2014. Deadline to apply is November 15, 2013. Visit www.tielaunchpad.com for more information and to apply.
About TiE
TiE, a not-for-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals, was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley, California, USA. Although its birth name, The Indus Entrepreneurs, signifies the ethnic South Asian or Indus roots of the founders, it is an open and inclusive organization that has rapidly grown to more than 60 chapters in 17 countries. TiE seeks to cultivate and nurture the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and free-market economies everywhere, as it sees this to be the single most powerful instrument of prosperity. Visit sv.tie.org for more information.
Contact Information:
Terry Koh
Terry@tie.org