by Mark Obonna Fleming
Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend Techstars Foundercon. For those who don’t know, Foundercon is an annual conference in San Francisco held during the first week of October, where its organizer, Techstars, invites its entire network of founders, corporate partners, and investors to come together for networking, workshopping, and relationship-building. The event is no small thing — you have everyone in the same room, from over 400+ startups, to 100+ Fortune 500 companies, to the biggest investors in the world, to fledgling entrepreneurs with bold ideas.
While the event is held in San Francisco, one thing that we appreciate about these events is their global focus and how they truly live up to their commitment that “great ideas can come from anywhere”. As of today, Techstars operates 53 accelerators in 37 cities in 14 countries. That’s an unprecedented range, especially in a world where so many discussions around VC funding can seem siloed and centered around Silicon Valley. And more than that, their strategy is clearly working: Techstars’ portfolio boasts a $100B accelerator cumulative market cap with over 20 unicorn success stories.
On top of just being generally a blast, the event itself was extraordinarily productive — especially for a young, growing global venture firm like Passbook. During my time last week at Foundercon, I was able to meet with over 30 companies, from all types of sectors, including in commerce tech, fintech, A.I., media tech and more. These weren’t just exchanges of greeting cards and handshakes either; we were able to form partnerships between five of these companies and our portfolio companies, allowing us to get access to the latest technology and stay on the cutting edge.
All of this was only possible because of our incredible partnership with Techstars, who have recognized the potential of Passbook and wanted to partner with us because of the work we do to help startup founders grow their businesses — particularly immigrants and expats who want to expand their companies globally. This alliance provides an added layer of assurance for our startup investments. More than that, Techstars accelerator companies benefit from substantial backing from the Techstars network and a robust community of mentors.
We talk a lot at Passbook about how the current VC landscape frequently overlooks startups that aren’t from a certain in-crowd. Techstars is a welcome antidote to that prevailing logic across the industry — they are the 2nd biggest investor in women-led startups that have raised over $1 million, and they have made unprecedented investments in startups across the world.
We also love how seriously Techstars takes the idea of mentorship. They offer a variety of bespoke programs so that founders get more specialized attention and help through these intimate settings. Cohorts, on average, are limited to 12 companies per class, which translates to more one-on-one time and bespoke learning.
Their philosophy of “Give First” is something that we try to emulate at Passbook. Techstars’ co-founder Brad Feld defines this as “helping others without an expectation of what you are going to get back.” This doesn’t boil down to simple altruism; but it’s the idea that not all relationships need to be transactional from the outset, but that being helpful will ultimately pay you back in the long-term. The numbers speak for themselves about the rewards of this ideology: over 20 unicorn startups with valuations exceeding $1 billion, have emerged from the Techstars ecosystem.
That spirit of giving back imbues Foundercon as well, and I’m excited about the fruits that the new relationships we’ve formed in the last week will yield in time. Our work with Techstars only strengthens Passbook’s position as a fund of choice for investors seeking to support solid startups, and I was glad to have the chance to meet with more of these startups.
Techstars’ reach, influence, and impact in the startup world will only continue to grow, and we are proud to be part of this incredible network and to go to events like Foundercon that breed collaboration and partnerships. With the help of accelerators like Techstars, the future of VC funding and entrepreneurship is brighter than ever.
Mark Obonna Fleming is the co-founder of Passbook, a global investment management platform which creates opportunities for diverse entrepreneurs.
