Techstars Miami Powered by J.P. Morgan

2024 March

Hybrid Program

“The 6% [Common Stock Granted to Techstars] paid for itself even before the first day of the program. The MD was available on demand and helped us negotiate and close our [$1.5M] pre-program round.” Santiago Barrera, COO, Aerialoop

“I've said this before and I'll say it again. If they had moved [Managing Director] @andresbarreto from Boulder to New York, then I would have applied to @Techstars New York instead of Miami.” Graciela Carrillo, CEO of Clinicbox, 2x Techstars Alum (Boulder, then Miami)

“I went in expecting to build a toolkit that will accelerate the growth of ORDA. I came out having a deeper understanding of myself and the team around me. I cannot recommend Techstars enough. #givefirst Techstars is for life.” Guy Futi, CEO of Orda. Orda raised $1.1M before the program and an additional $3.4M right after the program.

We will be running a mix of in-person and remote sessions. During the first and final weeks of the program, we will be in person in Miami. While many founders find Miami to be the best place for themselves and their companies, we have designed the middle part of the program to provide an optimal and custom-tailored remote experience. This way, founders may work from wherever they prefer.

Week 0 [In Person]: Two-day in-person retreat

Week 1 [In Person]: Networking, Fireside Chats, Workshops.

Week 2 [Remote]: Mentor Magic. “Speed Dating” with 35-45 mentors per company.

Week 3-12 [Remote]: PMF Experiments, Group Ops Review, 1:1 with Program Team, 1:1 with selected mentors, Peer Founder Forums.

Week 13 [In Person]: Investor Day, Demo Day.

*** Founders receive PMF, Fundraising, and Recruiting support from the program team on-demand before, during, or after the program.

We look for

• Founders that deeply understand their customer’s pain.

• Founders that have demonstrated they can execute quickly.

• Business models that have a plausible path to generating $1bn in annual revenue.

• Any stage, vertical, or market in the Americas.*

We have selected startups with as much as $2.5M in funding and as little as just an idea.

Open to founders of all backgrounds, the program is designed to provide equitable access to funding and support for Black, Hispanic and Latino, Indigenous American, and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs.

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*Excluding Cuba and Venezuela due to U.S. Government sanctions.

Andres Barreto, Managing Director

• Techstars Alum (New York 2011)

• Invested in 135+ startups. (85 companies before Techstars and 46 with Techstars)

• Co-founder of Grooveshark, Onswipe, Coderise, Socialatom, Group, and Firstrock Capital.

• Current MD of Techstars Miami, Fintech Practice Lead, previously MD of Techstars Boulder (’20-’22)

• LinkedIn

Edgard D. Duque, Investment Manager

• Edgard has cross-cultural experience in tech entrepreneurship, venture capital, and finance across Latin America, the US, the Middle East, and India. He has invested in tech companies and led accelerator programs in Miami and Latin America starting in 2014.

• LinkedIn

Pao Correa, Investment Analyst

• For the past 10 years, Pao has focused on developing sales and marketing strategies for LATAM and NA regions. She has worked with Google, Facebook, and Prezi in Silicon Valley. Additionally, she has led partnerships at 500 Global. Now, Pao brings her experience building and scaling tech programs to the Techstars Miami Accelerator in her hometown of Miami.

• LinkedIn

Keith Gruen, Coach-in-residence

• Keith is an experienced Conscious Leadership coach who has served as a coach in residence for over 5 years. He worked with Techstars programs worldwide and co-founded Meet Mindful (Techstars Boulder '16).

• LinkedIn

Yazmín Giraldo, Engineering and Operations Associate

• Yazmín is the Engineering Associate at Techstars Miami. Before becoming a software engineer, she operated accelerator programs, launched computer science schools, wrote for tech media companies, and ran PR campaigns in Latin America.

• LinkedIn

Techstars provides an initial investment of up to $120k paired with $5M+ in perks and an invaluable global network of alumni, mentors, and investors for 6% in pre-money common stock and up to 3% in a convertible note.

The common stock is for the program, the alumni, investor, and mentor network for life, around $5M in credits and perks, including over $400,000 in cloud credits and $20,000 in cash.

There is also a $100k convertible note that you may choose to take or not, at a cap between $3M and $5M.

Many raise significant capital before the start of the program and choose not to take the convertible note.

We earn primarily common stock to align with the founders and employees. With common stock, we only make money when founders and employees make money. It is also pre-money, so we will dilute first when your SAFEs or Notes convert. Common stock is typically priced at a fraction of preferred stock and is not a pricing event.

Investors buy preferred stock or convertible securities that convert into preferred stock, most are post-money, and they get paid first, among other rights.

Read more about the Techstars Investment Terms

Q: What does the application process look like, and how long do you take to decide?

A: There are a total of three interviews, and notice of advancement to each stage is given within 10 days after the application deadline.

Q: I am really short on time; how much time will Techstars take?

A: We will not waste your time. Techstars Miami is NOT SCHOOL; we custom tailor the program to your most immediate obstacles so that you can crush obstacles along the way and get to Product-Market Fit faster. Any time you spend with your mentors and program staff will be to help you do two years' worth of work in three months.

Q: I have already or will soon close a round of funding. Should I still consider Techstars Miami?

A: Many companies about to join our program will have raised between 500k-1M before the program starts. We can help you speed up your round, but that is not the only reason why you should do Techstars Miami. We see fundraising as a means to an end, and that end is getting to product-market-fit faster.

Q: What is the impact of 6% common to Techstars in our round and for our existing SAFE/Note investors? Does that not lower our valuation?

A: It does not impact your valuation; common stock is priced at a fraction of preferred stock; unlike other accelerators, we are taking common and not preferred, and we also take the 6% at a pre-money valuation, meaning that we dilute even retroactively before any money you have raised on a SAFE or convertible note. For most companies, post-money Techstars gets closer to 4% than 6%

Fill out an application to start the process.