AlphaLab & AlphaLab Gear Among Top 25 Accelerators in US
The annual Seed Accelerator Ranking Project (SARP) announced its latest rankings today and we are pleased to share that Innovation Works’ accelerators AlphaLab and AlphaLab Gear have once again been ranked among the top 25 accelerators in the U.S.
Being recognized by this particular ranking is meaningful to us for several reasons. First, the rankings are generated by the rigorous quantitative research led by professors at top US universities. Their exhaustive research is based on data on hundreds of US accelerators programs, their impact and the companies that go through the programs. The company success metrics include:
- follow-on funding,
- valuation,
- exits,
- survival rates,
- and there is also a measure of alumni satisfaction and size of alumni network.
This is an objective benchmark of AlphaLab and AlphaLab Gear against other accelerator programs in US, with no exceptions or qualifications — from behemoth programs like YCombinator to smaller, community-led accelerators and every for-profit and non-profit model in between.
Second, the rankings criteria are meaningful because they reflect the success of companies that have gone through AlphaLab or AlphaLab Gear and the founders’ satisfaction with our programs. Those are measurements we really treasure. In the same way we guide startups to establish product-market fit and constantly iterate based on customer response, our product is the accelerator program and the companies are our customers.
Finally, the rankings also attract the attention of investors and entrepreneurs to Pittsburgh and showcase our growing ecosystem here. At Innovation Works, we have developed numerous out-of-town investor and corporate relationships because these partners looked at the accelerator rankings and reached out to us as a trusted resource to connect with Pittsburgh. We have also attracted talented entrepreneurs and companies to Pittsburgh because of our performance in these rankings — for example, Identified Technologies, Maven Machines and Honeycomb Credit are just a few of the startups that moved to Pittsburgh to join AlphaLab or AlphaLab Gear.
As these rankings are objective benchmarks, the report also tells us where we can improve as a program. While we are proud of the recognition, we know we must continually improve our program and help our companies grow for even greater success. This correlates to Innovation Works’ next steps to help scale our region, where we are focused on 1) increasing our relationships with potential customers and corporate partners that can propel startups to grow faster and become the organically-grown tech companies that anchor regional employment and boost wages, 2) helping these growth companies attract bigger rounds of funding, and 3) building a culture of diversity and inclusion among the companies we support and the programs we develop.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Interested in applying to the AlphaLab Winter 2019 cohort? We’ve extended the application deadline to Wednesday, October 31st! Apply here: www.alphalab.org/apply
And hardware startups, stay tuned. AlphaLab Gear program applications and AlphaLab Gear Hardware Cup (international pitch competition) applications open on November 5th!
