Extreme Startups, a Toronto, ON, Canada-based startup accelerator program, has launched with $7m in funding.
Funded by Extreme Venture Partners, OMERS VENTURES, RHO Canada Ventures, BlackBerry Partners Fund, and BDC, Extreme Startups aims to back new technology companies, with a focus on (but not limited to) web or mobile-based software.
Participating companies will receive up to $200k of investment, an initial funding of $50k with up to $150k in a convertible note provided by BDC, as well as access to developer-level resources from leading technology companies and mentor resources. A group of mentors comprised of seasoned entrepreneurs will give weekly “startup school” sessions, whose topics will address real problems that startups face, from product development to sales and marketing, user acquisition, product-market fit, etc.
To augment the mentorship effort, serial entrepreneur Dan Debow (Rypple and Workbrain) will join the inaugural cohort as the “Entrepreneur Link”, a role specifically created to give participants a successful person who can act as a link between the teams and the entrepreneur community.
The program will admit 2 cohorts of 5 companies per year. They must relocate to the offices of Extreme Startups in downtown Toronto for the duration of 12 weeks.
Applications (http://www.extremestartups.com/apply/) close March 1, 2012 for the spring 2012 with the program starting on March 19, 2012.
FinSMEs
06/02/2012