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The cohort size, time of program and total funding of university accelerators tend to be smaller than than their non-academic counterparts. University accelerators are almost exclusively non-profit entities. University accelerators blend the educational and funding traits of traditional accelerators with the resources and innovation culture of major universities. Due to this unique blend, university accelerators serve as an important bridge in the entrepreneurship ecosystem between aspiring entrepreneurs and cutting-edge research. Houston has two major university accelerators.
Start-Up Guide (Issue Brief) (view source)
Revision as of 16:53, 23 January 2017
, 16:53, 23 January 2017→Houston University Accelerators
===Houston University Accelerators===
University accelerators, like standard accelerators combine mentorship and education in a fixed-term cohort program. Rather than being run by a purely entrepreneurship-focused entity, university accelerators are powered and run through universities. Generally the advising is provided by entrepreneurship and business academics. While entrance costs and expectations are comparatively low, enrollment is generally restricted to those affiliated with the university.
====OwlSpark====
The second university accelerator in Houston, RED Labs, was founded in 2013 and is housed at the University of Houston in the Greater Third Ward neighborhood. With a mission to promote entrepreneurship within both the University of Houston and greater Houston communities, RED Labs advertises access to industry and academic experts, office space at the University of Houston and mentorship.
The accelerator has one director, who has direct experience as the founder of a successful company. Across its four years of existence, only 18 companies have enrolled in the RED Labs program, none of which have received venture capital investments from an outside firm, been acquired, or exited in an IPO.
While university accelerators cannot be expected to perform at the same standards as for-profit industry accelerators, some, such as the New Venture Challenge accelerator of the University of Chicago which will be analyzed more in depth later, have investment rates of 5.12%, demonstrating that university-model accelerators can, and do, work. University accelerators are critical components of entrepreneurship ecosystems, helping to transfer innovative ideas from the lab to the market, and investment into Houston’s university accelerators should be considered to help revitalize the ecosystem as a whole.
===Houston Incubators===
