MassChallenge is a global, zero-equity

startup accelerator Startup accelerators, also known as seed accelerators, are fixed-term, cohort-based programs, that include mentorship and educational components, and (sometimes) culminate in a public pitch event or demo day. While traditional business incubato ...

, founded in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, in 2009. MassChallenge is headquartered in Boston's

Seaport District The Seaport District, or simply Seaport, is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It is part of the larger neighborhood of South Boston, and is also sometimes called the Innovation District. The Seaport is a formerly industrial area that ha ...

in the MassMutual Building, and has additional U.S. locations in Texas, as well international locations in Israel and Switzerland.

History

MassChallenge co-founders John Harthorne and Akhil Nigam were working as strategy consultants at

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and nonprofit organizations. One of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three management co ...

during the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

when they developed MassChallenge. MassChallenge secured early support from successful entrepreneurs like Desh Deshpande and Joe Fallon, the public sector including

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three mont ...

the then-

Mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a m ...

and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and large organizations like The Blackstone Charitable Foundation and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

. During its first Boston-based cohort in 2010, MassChallenge accelerated 111

startups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...

Notable alumni

* JoyTunes, a music app producer * Drync, a wine mobile app for iOS platforms *''

Her Campus ''Her Campus'' is an online magazine targeted at the female college student demographic. In November 2010, ''Glamour Magazine'' honored ''Her Campus founders at its Glamour (magazine)#Glamour Woman of the Year Awards, Women of the Year Award ...

'', an online newsmagazine for college women *Global Research Innovation & Technology, manufacturer of the Leveraged Freedom Chair * LiquiGlide, a plant-based liquid-impregnated surface coating *

RallyPoint RallyPoint is a privately held American company founded in 2012 by military veterans Yinon Weiss and Aaron Kletzing at Harvard Business School. The company is a professional network serving the US military and its veterans, and has been called " ...

, a professional network for US military members *

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

, a business wear men's fashion brand * Moneythink, a non-profit organization that places college volunteers in high school classrooms to teach courses in financial literacy and entrepreneurship

References

External links

* {{US Business Incubators Non-profit organizations based in Boston Entrepreneurship organizations Companies based in Boston 501(c)(3) organizations Startup accelerators Business incubators of the United States