MassChallenge

Innovation Blog

CEO’s Note: Update to Our Early-Stage Startup Eligibility Requirements 

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At MassChallenge, we’re committed to making it as easy as possible for entrepreneurs to launch and grow their businesses. Now in our tenth year, the MassChallenge team is proud of how we’ve grown and evolved to ensure that our mission stays the forefront of our work: from our programs to our international footprint, we’ve kept pace with a rapidly changing global startup ecosystem.

{{img-align-right:1}}Siobhan Dullea, CEO of MassChallenge

Today, we’re excited to share that we are evolving again to create more opportunities for startups to engage with our early-stage programs around the world. The market and the funding landscape for startups has evolved significantly over the last ten years: recent analyses have shown that the average round size at the angel and seed stage is USD $1.5M, compared to an average of USD $750K in 2009.

In consideration of these changes, MassChallenge is updating its eligibility requirements to redefine “early-stage” as any company that has raised less than $1M in equity-based funding and generated less than $2M in annual revenue. This update will go into effect for the 2020 cohorts of MassChallenge early-stage programs in Boston, Israel, Mexico, Texas, Switzerland, Rhode Island, and Switzerland.

To be clear: we will continue to identify, support, and accelerate startups across this early-stage spectrum – from pre-revenue and pre-funding teams to teams that reach the new eligibility ceiling. We welcome early-stage startups across all industries and from anywhere in the world to apply for our programs at https://accelerate.masschallenge.org/.

Siobhan Dullea

Chief Executive Officer, MassChallenge

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