LaunchPad: A Quick Look at What Makes This Accelerator Unique
LaunchPad is a Small Business Development Center supported by the US Small Business Administration (SBA). They work with technology and life science entrepreneurs seeking Late Seed, Series A and Series B funding ($500K-$25M). With over 600 successful LaunchPad Alumni since 2010 and an 86% funding rate, LaunchPad ranks in the top 5 out of over 900 SBDCs in the United States.
In the video below you will hear CEO Bill Carpou speak on why LaunchPad has become so successful.
Transcription:
Ben Bobo: Explain to the audience exactly what is LaunchPad and what does that look like?
Bill Carpou: So, it's a relatively rich environment in terms of access to expertise, mentorship and advisors. Um, it is currently, and the intention is always to keep it as a pro bono. So we provide those services at no charge. And really what we're doing is helping companies prepare for an institutional round of funding.
It's generally around a 16 week program, but unlike other accelerators, we don't have a cohort. It doesn't start on a specific day. And there's five or six other companies. Uh, we work with about 40 companies a year.
Last year, 2018, we worked with 42. Um, and if you were to look at a 16 week calendar, you'd find companies in week one, week three, week eight, week 15. And so it's a, it's a process of moving them through, helping them improve their presentation skills for capital funding, and then putting them in in front of sources of capital, which then the company, hopefully as they come out, moves onto our Growth Services platform where we introduce sources of capital and operational sources to help them.