The Heritage Group’s (THG) New Ventures Group headed in Indianapolis by Kip Frey, well known in North Carolina as an entrepreneur, investor and vice provost for innovation and entrepreneurship at Duke, is teaming with Techstars to create a new startup accelerator.
The Heritage Group Accelerator Powered by Techstars – a vehicle for mentoring and developing early-stage companies at THG’s corporate research and innovation facility in Indianapolis, will join Techstars’ family of forty-plus similarly organized accelerators around the world – each based on a different business theme or vertical market.
Applications for the first Heritage Group Accelerator Powered by Techstars will open in early 2019, with a focus on companies innovating in the materials science, environmental services and specialty chemicals fields, THG specialties.
Each accepted startup gets an equity investment of $120,000 and access to the Techstars global network of financial, managerial and technical experts. The Accelerator will be funded completely through the THG New Ventures Group.
Each year, the Heritage Group Accelerator will select a group of 10 startup companies from what is expected to be hundreds of applicants from around the world. The startups will then gather in Indianapolis for an intensive three-month program of research and development, mentorship and collaboration at The Center – THG’s state-of-the-art incubation environment.
“This significant investment represents a bet on the future of entrepreneurship and new company formation in Indianapolis,” said Frey, executive vice president for New Ventures at THG in a statement. “Together with the recent launch of our new corporate venture arm, HG Ventures, The Heritage Group is now well positioned to support innovation and economic development throughout the region.”
Previously on WRAL Techwire:
Kip Frey: Indianapolis-based HG Ventures is a unique and compelling opportunity
