30 Startup Bootcamps, Incubators, And Accelerators Every Founder Should Know

October 29, 2021

The entrepreneurship landscape has changed drastically over the last ten years. As a result, programs designed to take founders from ideation to successful startup are multiplying. Bootcamps, incubators, and accelerators are terms every entrepreneur should know; if these aren’t familiar to you yet, check out our glossary of common terms you’ll want to know. There can be a lot of confusion about which type of program to apply to, but you can determine this by evaluating your business knowledge and startup stage. So let’s take a look at what each type of program involves and how they can better prepare you for startup success.

Bootcamps are essential for people with little to no experience in entrepreneurship. Most people who apply to a Bootcamp start with an idea and end with a clear understanding of what starting a business requires. Many Bootcamps feature workshops, lectures, networking, mentorship, and access to limited resources for the would-be entrepreneur. Bootcamps are a great stepping stone for anyone who wants to learn more about the startup ecosystem and business basics like marketing, accounting, financing, and company formation. Bootcamp programs are also a common precursor to incubators. 

1. Babson College Entrepreneurship Bootcamp – A 5-week virtual program that anyone can attend. The program teaches business models, design thinking, financial modeling, marketing, and pitching. The program ends with a peer-reviewed pitching event.
2. Berekley Method Of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp – A virtual workshop offered bi-annually that takes place over 4.5 days and is open to both students and non-students. This program is all about teaching the Berkeley Method Of Entrepreneurship. Their primary focus is global technology startups, but all startups can learn from their instruction.
3. Blackstone LaunchPad Fellowship, powered by Future Founders – If you’re a college student, there’s a chance the Blackstone LaunchPad Program is offered at your university. The program was initially launched to help support student ventures and continues to do so. In addition, LaunchPad also strives to teach students entrepreneurial skills that can follow them to any career they choose. The program runs for 8-weeks and awards each student $5,000 to put towards their entrepreneurial dreams.
4. Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans – A 30-day virtual Bootcamp for veterans that helps them achieve their entrepreneurial goals. This phased program offers veterans an opportunity to graduate past the initial instruction period into an incubator-type program at one of the participating universities. All program-related expenses will be covered.
5. Future Founders Startup Bootcamp – A virtual Bootcamp program with a focus on 18- to 30-year-old entrepreneurs. Startup Bootcamp teaches startup and business processes that apply to each student’s business. Startup Bootcamp also offers a vast network of mentors to help them turn their idea, passion, or side hustle into a viable business.
6. Grid110 Bootcamp – An 8-week evening Bootcamp program for residents of Los Angeles catered towards first-time entrepreneurs in the very early stages of their business. The Grid110 program will teach entrepreneurs the essential building blocks needed to expand their idea, validate core concepts, and build their vision.
7. GSV Startup Bootcamp – A 7-week virtual Bootcamp open to all. This lecture-style program will feature an impressive roster of successful entrepreneurs and speakers who will discuss an essential startup-building topic each week with Q+A sessions at the end. In addition, the end of the program will feature a pitch day where attendees can pitch their business.
8. MIT Innovation Leadership Bootcamp – A 10-week Bootcamp where students meet like-minded peers and build a brand-new venture. Lessons learned from this program can be carried over into your startup, or you may decide on continuing the business you developed with your new team. 
9. NYSE Entrepreneur Bootcamp – Taking place virtually, this interactive 1-day program is focused on helping entrepreneurs from underserved communities. The program successfully launched in Atlanta and Detroit last year. This next series aims to teach Chicago-based entrepreneurs how to build, grow, and scale their businesses. 
10. WE-REACH Biomedical Innovation Bootcamp – For startups in the Northwest region, this 6-week online program created by the University of Washington is geared towards biomedical startups with the potential to make a meaningful impact. The program’s goal is to teach new founders how to move from idea to launch and connect them with mentors who can help guide them throughout the process.

Incubators are programs for founders to grow their startups. Incubators look for startups that can demonstrate traction or growth potential. Founders that are further along in their startup journey join incubators to research, test, validate, and pivot their business. Incubators also offer many resources like workshops, mentorship, coaching, networking, and seed funding. An incubator is where entrepreneurs start to move their business from ideation to a functioning startup. These programs are an excellent way to connect with other founders going through the same process as you. In addition, incubators often offer a space where a community of entrepreneurs helps to keep you grounded, accountable, and supported. 

1. 1871 Pyros – Pyros is an all-in-one program that combines bootcamp, incubator, and accelerator. The program broadly covers all the startup stages, including explore, build, launch, and catapult. The unconventional approach to workshops and deep dives is what sets this program apart. In many ways, the program is a startup itself as it continues to iterate on its design to make the most impact with founders. Membership to 1871 is required.
2. Berkeley Skydeck Incubator – The Berkeley Skydeck is an incubator focusing on tech, A.I., and robotics. They also run an accelerator program which is open to all University of California affiliates. Suppose your startup is still too early to join the cohort. In that case, the Berkeley Skydeck Incubator is available to your startup as a coworking space with perks that include limited access to advisors and in-kind resources.
3. CITRIS Foundry – The CITRIS Foundry can be found across University of California campuses. The incubator is open to startups. This incubator program is structured as a testing lab for founders to validate their products and ideas. The program’s goal is to “bridge the gap from lab to market and actualize rigorous, validated solutions to society’s biggest challenges.”
4. EvoNexus Startup Incubator – The EvoNexus incubator is meant for early-stage startups working in 5G & IoT, FinTech, and MedTech. Their San Diego-based programs help founders build their teams, develop an MVP, evaluate the market, secure funding, and collaborate. To join the EvoNexus long-term residency, a 1% equity in your startup will be exchanged.
5. Fintech Innovation Lab – The Fintech Innovation Lab is an incubation program that helps startups from early to growth stage in the financial technology industry continue to grow. Based in New York City, the program partners with some of the top financial firms worldwide. Founders will benefit from mentors, workshops, partnership opportunities, and investment connections.
6. Idea TestLab Virtual Incubator – This 5-week virtual program by Penn State is open to anyone based in Pennsylvania and is intended for businesses in the customer discovery phase. The ultimate goal of participating in this program is to help you understand your customer and differentiate yourself from the competition. The program includes 1:1 coaching and an opportunity to win $3000 in prize funding.
7. Matter– A Chicago-based healthcare incubator that helps entrepreneurs gain the knowledge and skills necessary for success. Matter supports entrepreneurs with startups at any stage by facilitating learning and development opportunities. Access to capital, customers, and a dynamic community are all reasons to consider Matter.
8. Nvidia Inception – The Inception program is specific to tech startups in Deep Learning and A.I. Development. The program is free to join and offers access to a suite of Nvidia software, support from industry experts, and helps startups connect with the right tools and investors to ensure success. There is no application deadline, cohort, or term limits. Apply and remain an active member of the community to continue receiving benefits.
9. Plug And Play – Plug And Play touts itself as an innovation platform or an ecosystem for startups of all kinds. They offer specific accelerators in industries like insuretech, fintech, food manufacturing, health, and much more. With locations in large cities around the U.S. and the world, they partner with major companies in each city to facilitate partnerships and investment in early-stage startups. The platform is entirely free to join.
10. UChicago Polsky Center – Based in Chicago, this incubation space is where biotech, manufacturing, fintech, and food agribusinesses work under one roof. The Polsky Incubator is a program designed to take ready-to-scale startups to the next level. The programs offer workshops taught by industry-leading experts and investors who want to help your startup grow—membership costs anywhere from $100-$200  per month.

Accelerators are for startups further along in their development. The average accelerator runs for about 12 weeks and often requires the founder to be on location during that time. An accelerator program focuses on strategy, team, marketing, and preparing the venture for outside investment. Accelerator programs tend to accept startups that have already validated their product or service. These companies are often at a later stage and looking for an extra infusion of capital and resources. In exchange for their investment, resources, expertise, and network of investors, most accelerators will require a percentage of equity in the company up to 10%.

1. Angel Pad Accelerator – Based in San Francisco and New York City, this accelerator program spends 12 weeks with each tech startup to help them evaluate their business processes. Then, entrepreneurs get straight to work on finding product market fit, defining their target market, and validating their business. AngelPad will invest $120k for 7% Equity.
2. Antler U.S. Accelerator – Antler is a hybrid of accelerator and venture capital funding rounds. The program lasts 26-weeks and is based out of New York City. For the first three months, startups are mentored in anticipation of their first Demo Day, where winners will receive an investment of $15,000. These companies will then compete for an additional $200,000. In addition, Antler will typically acquire up to a 10% stake in each startup.
3. Boomtown Accelerator – This accelerator partners with large corporations as an extension of their innovation team. This program aims to cultivate startups that can be integrated into existing organizations or whose technology would be of interest to a large corporation. In addition, the program serves as a pipeline to acquisition. New accelerators open annually and cover a broad range of innovations from Sportstech, Patient Safety, and Hardware and Connectivity.
4. Google For Startups – Accelerators at Google are focused on technology startups, as you would expect. But, in addition, Google offers two startup accelerators for black and women founders that span three months. The equity-free program teaches founders product design, customer acquisition, and leadership through deep dives and workshops. In addition, it also offers mentorship and project support. 
5. Future Founders Fellowship – The Fellowship program is a prestigious year-long and equity-free accelerator designed for young entrepreneurs nationwide. Perks of the Future Founders Fellowship include learning how to become a better founder, sustain growth in your business, and access to a network of supportive entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors to help keep you on track. 
6. MassChallenge Accelerator – The MassChallenge accelerator has several programs for many different types of startups. The best part of these accelerators is that they partner with business leaders across industries like technology, healthcare, and manufacturing to coach startup founders and increase the likelihood of creating impact in those industries. In addition, the program takes zero equity from startups they invest in by offering a competition-style investment model and awarding investment prizes at demo day. 
7. Morgan Stanley Multicultural Innovation Lab – An accelerator lab based in New York City, this program is for minority and women founders with high-growth startups. The lab is an opportunity for founders to increase visibility and scale their startups. After 5-months, the program ends with a demo day. After that, Morgan Stanley pledges to invest $250,000 for an undisclosed percentage of equity.
8. New Chip Accelerator – New Chip offers three accelerators for entrepreneurs at different stages. Their pre-seed accelerator will teach you how to perform market research, tell your startup story, create an MVP, and raise capital for early-stage entrepreneurs. Although New Chip does not take equity unless there is an investment offer, there is an undisclosed fee to participate in the program.
9. Techstars Accelerator – Techstars has expanded across the U.S., but you can participate in their Anywhere Accelerator right from home. The Anywhere Accelerator is a 12-week long virtual accelerator with the flexibility to join from anywhere in the world. Techstars connects entrepreneurs to an extensive network of mentors, funding, and additional resources to help entrepreneurs reach their potential. If Techstars invests in your company, you can expect to give up around 7-10% equity for $118,000.
10. Y Combinator Accelerator – A 12-week program that opens twice per year. Y Combinator asks startups to move to Silicon Valley for three months, where they participate in a rigorous program focused on building the best possible startups to pitch to investors on Demo Day. Y Combinator typically invests $150k for 7% equity. 

As you can see, there are so many opportunities available to entrepreneurs, no matter the stage of your startup. Bootcamps are meant for people who are brand new to entrepreneurship and the startup ecosystem. Incubators are for founders forming their companies, growing their customer base, testing their product offerings, and pivoting. Accelerators are for entrepreneurs who are further along. These startups have demonstrated product market fit (read up on product market fit), demonstrated considerable traction, and are looking for capital investment and mentorship to scale and grow their businesses. Whichever category your startup falls into, we hope you find resources available to your specific startup’s needs. At Future Founders, we strive to break down barriers to entrepreneurship. We believe that every youth can become an entrepreneur. Be sure to apply to one of our zero equity programs, where you will find an invaluable amount of resources and support for your startup!