What would you do if your business received $50,000-$100,000 with no strings attached and no equity given up? Spend it to market to new customers? Invest in your infrastructure to scale your application? Use it lease office space that doesn’t sit above a bowling alley? Buy all of your employees puppies? It’s a dilemma that every startup on the planet would love to face, and with the launch of this year’s MassChallenge Startup Accelerator and Competition, that “dilemma” won’t just be theoretical.
If you haven’t heard of MassChallenge before, here’s the quick rundown: MassChallenge is the largest startup accelerator and competition in the world, and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strings attached. Participants are invited to a three-month accelerator program with world-class mentorship and training, free office space, access to funding, media and more. 15-20 startups are selected as winners of $50,000-$100,000, totaling $1.1M in cash awards. $4M+ in-kind support is provided (including some hosting goodness from SoftLayer). It’s open to all: Any startup can enter, from anywhere, in any industry. No equity is taken. No restrictions apply.
Every entrant, not just the winners, will receive access to workshops, mentors, executives, other team members and sources of funding. Experts from the Massachusetts tech ecosystem will identify the highest potential startups, which will receive cash prizes and will qualify for privileged access to funding sources from across Massachusetts.
Why is MassChallenge important to SoftLayer? Well SoftLayer Loves Startups, and as an expression of that love, SoftLayer’s Catalyst Program — our technology entrepreneur mentorship initiative will provide $25,000 cash to MassChallenge in addition to $1,000 per month of credit for qualifying participants to use on the SoftLayer platform (servers, cloud instances, storage, etc.) for one full year … Which is reason enough to participate, right?
We’re no strangers to the startup scene, and the reception we’ve received from organizations like MassChallenge, TechStars Cloud and Beta have only reinforced our commitment to communities created to foster entrepreneurship and innovation. I can’t count the number of killer startups I’ve met in the past month (much less the past year), and I’m blown away by the portfolio of startup companies already in the Catalyst Program … That’s not a reason to be satisfied, though. We’re not resting on our laurels; we’re speeding up.
What does it mean for you as an entrepreneur? Easy: You need to sign up immediately, if not sooner. The deadline for applications for the 2012 competition is April 11, and if you apply before March 15, you’ll be eligible for a $100 discount on the application fee. Visit masschallenge.org to learn more and get the ball rolling.