Corporates Lower Barriers for Startup Success
Everyone admires the underdog. From movies like Rocky to comedies like Silicon Valley, the rags-to-riches underdog story is an awards-season winner. Unfortunately, the underdog story comes at the cost of portraying the establishment as villainous or at the very least, ethically questionable.
However, as proven in later films, Apollo Creed actually did a lot to break barriers down for Rocky Balboa, proving that when establishment players and underdogs work together, impact can be magnified 100-fold.
Organizations like Microsoft, Zipcar, Cydan Development Inc., Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, EYP, and The John W. Henry Family Foundation are well aware of this and in order to achieve this impact, they have teamed up with several MassChallenge startups to foster engagement and collaboration through scholarships.
What is the MassChallenge Boston Scholarship program?
Back for its second year, the MassChallenge Boston Scholarship program works with partners who want to help startups. It awards between $5,000 — $10,000 in grant funding, to help support innovation throughout the startups’ participation in the four-month MassChallenge Boston accelerator program. Of the over 90 startup companies that applied this year, scholarship partners awarded $135,000 in scholarship funding to 23 startups that are participating in the 2016 program.
Startups are invited to apply after completing the second round of judging for the accelerator program. In addition to grant funding, recipients will also have access to exclusive events and unparalleled mentorship opportunities.
Why this matters
As the risk of a startup bubble burst increases, bolstering collaboration between corporations and startups is the best way for global economies to continue growing, and is the strongest guarantee for entrepreneurs and corporate executives to stay relevant.
As resources get more scarce, corporates can provide the capital, while startups can provide the innovative ideas that can help solve the world’s biggest problems. Every single industry is looking at new tech, and startups are looking for corporates who have the kind of bandwidth to explore sustainable applications of their tech.
It is only through this kind of collaboration that we can actually make progress on solving problems related to civic innovation, rare diseases, underrepresented communities, clean energy, urban mobility, and design innovation.
Teaming up
If you’re an Apollo looking for the best ways to find his Rocky or vice versa, then join us for our webinar on July 20th, How to Win at Startup/Corporate Collaboration. We’ve been working hard with Imaginatik to survey hundreds of startups and corporations in research study on startup/corporate collaboration. Attend this webinar and be the first to hear our findings.
We look forward to seeing the amazing innovations the following collaborations will bring:
John W. Henry Scholarship for Social Impact
Recognizes startups that are developing new and innovative solutions for underrepresented groups and underserved communities
Microsoft Scholarship for Civic Innovation
Recognizes startups that help public officials deliver improved services to private citizens and enhance government effectiveness
Zipcar Scholarship for Urban Mobility
Recognizes startups that are developing solutions to solve mobility-related challenges in our cities
Cydan Development Scholarship for Rare Diseases
Recognizes startups targeting genetic conditions and accelerating the development of therapeutics and diagnosis of such disorders
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Scholarship
Recognizes startups in Massachusetts that are developing and commercializing technologies that contribute to the advancement of clean energy & water innovation
EYP Scholarship for Design Innovation
Recognizes startups that inspire creativity and problem-solving through design
- EMBR Labs
- Jibran Malek, MassChallenge Boston Marketing Manager
Originally published at masschallenge.org.
