Startup accelerator launches, announces new executive director

Rebecca Stein is the new executive director of emerge Xcelerate, an early-stage accelerator for startup companies focused on technology (hardware and software) and social impact.

Xcelerate is a six-month program that provides selected startup companies with $20,000 of funding, access to legal and accounting services, maker spaces, industrial and graphic design services, and business and industry-specific mentoring. The program culminates at a Demo Day, where each entrepreneur presents their idea to the investment community and the public in order to build interest and attract follow-on funding. Xcelerate will work with a cohort of 6-8 startup stage businesses every six months. Applications for the first cohort began July 15.

emerge West Michigan is a public-private partnership encompassing 13 counties in West Michigan. emerge programs include five distinct services:  the emerge Web Portal, which provides online access to resources for entrepreneurs regardless of physical location; 5×5 night, an entrepreneurship competition where idea-stage businesses compete to win $5,000 of seed money; emerge Incubate (previously called GR Current), a membership-based entrepreneurship community with shared space and access to resources for startups; emerge Mentor Connect, which helps entrepreneurs leverage the experience of talented senior executives; and emerge Xcelerate,

Stein describes the program as an ecosystem specifically designed to serve entrepreneurs at various phases with their business. “Someone with an idea can begin at web portal and then move to a 5×5 Night or apply to the incubator,” she says. “After that they can access our mentor program and the accelerator.” Stein says there are no prerequisites to when a business can access the services.

Like all ecosystems, the emerge programs are also part of a larger community, and Stein says their program was created to complement other entrepreneurial initiatives in the community, such as StartGarden’s Seamless Accelerator.

To learn more about this program, you can visit their site here.

Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor