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NYU Launches Accelerator For Recent Grads

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This week marked the start of NYU’s Summer Launchpad – a 10-week accelerator that, for 10 lucky teams, will provide coaching, mentorship, and a $7,500 stipend to help propel the next generation of successful entrepreneurs.

“It’s been documented that 75% of startups ultimately fail and that’s even when founders have 100% of their time committed to working on it,” explained Frank Rimalovski, executive director of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute and driving force behind the program.

The boot-camp-meets-summer-camp for startups provides teams of recent graduates from NYU’s various schools with the opportunity to concentrate full-time on their burgeoning companies. Each group is paired up with a New York-based entrepreneur or venture capitalist – mentors include David Tisch, managing partner of Box Group, and Paul Berry, founder and CEO of RebelMouse.

Steve Blank’s The Startup Owner’s Manual is required background reading, while lessons themselves take a ‘flipped classroom’ format with groups presenting for peer and coach critiques.

Unlike other accelerators, the companies do not give up any equity in exchange for cash, and teams are permitted to spend the small stipends as they wish.

“We invested in you guys, more so than the products,” Rimalovski told groups on the second day of the program.

Among the products being developed is Databetes, a forthcoming app that will provide self-management support tools for patients with diabetes. Kinvolved similarly bridges technology and social enterprise by developing online applications to increase school attendance among low-income students, engaging parents in the process.

Founded in fall 2011 by Miriam Altman, Alexandra Meis and Barrie Charney Golden, the idea for Kinvolved formed when Meis and Altman shared their frustrations working in health and education in low-income areas.

The team’s solution includes a web application teachers can use to record attendance that sends an automated text message or email to the registered contacts of any absentees, as well as data collection on truancy patterns and reasons for absences.

Kinvolved has already won $50,000 for the Social Venture Prize in this year’s $200K Entrepreneurs Challenge held by NYU Stern’s Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. By August, the team hopes to be working with 10-15 schools.

“We think that this team of mentors, coaches and our peers will really equip us so at the end of the 10 weeks we will be able to sustain ourselves,” explained Meis.

In today's crowded startup world, Rimalovski has stern words for founders.

“People fall in love with their idea and believe everyone loves their idea as much as they do,” explained Rimalvoski.

“You’ve got to find a large number of people out their in the world who love it more than you do to really justify a business.”