Web incubator TechStars, currently the subject of a Bloomberg TV reality show, announced a new fund of over $24 million which will be used to offer a $100,000 convertible debt note to every company it accepts. The funding is provided by a pool of venture capital firms that includes Avalon, DFJ Mercury, Foundry Group, IA Ventures, Right Side Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, SoftBank Capital, DFJ Mercury and RRE, as well as TechStars alumni and several individuals.
“This additional funding will allow TechStars companies to stay focused on making progress during the three-month program instead of spending that valuable time on early fundraising in order to make ends meet,” TechStars CEO David Cohen said in a statement.
TechStars is a mentorship-driven seed stage investment program that runs an annual three-month program in Boston, Boulder, New York City and Seattle. It was founded by Cohen with Brad Feld, David Brown, and Jared Polis in 2006.
Cohen said that receiving funding from a large number of investors was better than from a single source, since it means there is a broader base of support for the startups’ ultimate success.
The Bloomberg Television show debuted on Sept. 13. Each week the program documents what goes on in what the network calls a “boot camp for start-ups,” following participants Immersive Labs, Onswipe, To Vie For, Shelby (formerly HomeField), Veri (formerly SocratED) and Nestio (formerly UrbanApt).
Related links:
ReadWriteWeb – http://tinyurl.com/4ylko2j
GigaOm – http://tinyurl.com/3r4v6d7
Photo by flickr user Andrew Hyde, used under Creative Commons license
