Western Accelerator (Applications Close Today)
Launched in January 2017, the Western Accelerator provides an intense, rapid and immersive education for prospective entrepreneurs. Our goal is to accelerate the life cycle of high potential ventures and to compress a year’s worth of learning into a few months for their entrepreneurs.
The Western Accelerator is a critical component of the cross-campus Western Entrepreneurship ecosystem and is open to Western students, faculty, and recent alumni with an expectation of a full-time commitment. The Western Accelerator program is made possible by the support of our generous sponsors: Libro Credit Union and StarTech.com.
What to expect
During their time in the accelerator, teams can expect:
- Weekly Programming: half-day educational sessions on leadership, sales, investors, pitch skills, etc. as well as mentoring sessions with successful entrepreneurs
- Join networking events with successful entrepreneurs, industry experts, investors and service providers
- Participate in "Demo Day" at the end of program—a dynamic event where teams deliver their idea and business plans to an audience from the local entrepreneurship, business and investment communities
- Monthly milestone meetings to discuss your progress and to set goals for the upcoming month
- Receive a $3,000 per month stipend.
Eligibility Requirements
We look for teams who have a high-potential to scale and who meet the following criteria:
- At least one founder must have a connection to Western (Student, Faculty, Staff or Alumni)
- Teams must be willing to contribute a full-time effort
- Teams must participate virtually between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET)
- Teams can have up to three founders
- Founders working out of the Accelerator must have decision making ability
- Founders are required to participate in all Accelerator events, workshops and competitions throughout their time in the Western Accelerator
