Tufts Venture Accelerator

An immersive summer experience that helps you build your venture

The Tufts Venture Accelerator is a full-time, 10-week-long summer venture accelerator that provides structure, accountability, educational experiences and funding to help Tufts entrepreneurs make rapid progress throughout the summer. Participants will receive tailoredcoaching through all the key stages of venture creation, from defining their market and customer to developing and testing a solution with a go-to-market strategy and pricing architecture, to building out their financials and planning their next steps regarding financing, team and company building.

Frequently Asked Questions

Key Dates

  • Program Duration: June 12 – August 15, 2024
  • Midpoint Pitches: July 11
  • Applications open: March 29, 2024 @9:00am ET
  • Application deadline: April 7, 2024@ 11:59pm ET
  • Interviews: April 15, 16, 17, 2024 
  • Notifications sent: By April 19, 2024
  • Acceptance Commitment: Within 24 hours of acceptance

What’s new this year for the accelerator?

  • We will not run a separate self-guided edition. Instead, teams who are not accepted in the full time accelerator are welcome to follow our weekly schedule and attend any events that are open to the public.
  • We will be collaborating with Innovate@Boston University’s summer accelerator on cross-university programming. Stay tuned for more details.

How many teams are you accepting?

  • We are planning to accept a total of 7 in person cohort + 1 remote Fletcher D-prize team into the full-time edition.

Who’s eligible for the Full-Time Edition?

  • Teams of 2-5 (No solo teams)
  • Applicants must have actively participating executive or founding team members in major roles who are one, or more, of the following: Matriculated Tufts undergraduate or graduate student; full time postdoc, research fellow or resident; faculty, staff or current researcher; recently graduated alumni (graduated within the last 5 years)
  • Applicants must not have raised more than $250,000 combined in grants, fellowships, convertible notes, SAFE notes, equity-based financing or other funding sources as of the application deadline
  • Applicants must not have accrued cumulative revenues of more than $250,000 since founding their current venture
  • Applicants must not have already participated in the Venture Accelerator with the same venture
  • Applicants must be committed to working on their venture full time over the summer
  • Applicants must commit to attending all mandatory programming

Can Non-Tufts team members participant in the Full-Time Edition?

Non-Tufts team members may be part of the venture’s management team and may participate in the accelerator.  However, the Tufts team member(s) are expected to:

  • Be the driving force behind the venture
  • Have an ongoing active role in the day-to-day operations of the venture
  • Hold an executive role in the founding management team of the venture

Is the Full-Time Edition in-person, hybrid, or remote?

  • The Tufts Venture Accelerator will be run as an in-person/hybrid program. Most workshops and events will be hybrid or remote to support remote callers.
  • We will have a home base for all teams at the Venture Lab at Room 301 in the Joyce Cummings Center, 177 College Avenue, Medford, MA.
  • Preference will be given to teams who are able to attend in-person for the full length of the program.
  • Teams which are not based in Boston should make every effort to attend the program in-person for the first week, for the midterm presentations, and for Demo Day.
 

What is the application process for the Full-Time Edition?

  • Applicants will complete an application on line
  • A subset of applicants may be invited to a 15 minute interview
  • Teams will be selected based on our assessment of whether our specific program design is a good match for the team’s needs and the venture’s stage of development

Is there any funding or startup perks for participants of the Full-Time Edition?

Once accepted into the full time program, teams may apply for venture awards of up to $10,000 from our venture award program.

  • $5,000 of the award will be distributed at the start of the accelerator to each accepted team.
  • Teams may apply for the remaining $5,000 by submitting a grant proposal including a detailed budget and a description for the intended use of funds. A funding board will review each application and make grant awards according to a predetermined set of selection criteria.

While all Tufts entrepreneurs may enjoy the startup perks that are open to public, accelerator participants may be eligible to receive additional select startup perks for business systems, IT systems and more.

What are the rules of engagement for accepted teams?

Startup team members who apply and are accepted into the Full-Time Edition of the Tufts Venture Accelerator must agree to the following conditions:

  • Participants must agree to attend and participate in all coaching and programming events offered as part of the program, including the mid-term and final team check-in’s, unless unable to for reasons connected to startup as confirmed by the Startup Coach.
  • Participants must agree to adhere to the standards of academic integrity and Tufts community citizenship as outlined in University policies and Code of Conduct
  • Participants must agree to notify the Program Lead immediately if no longer able to agree to any of the above requirements. Violation of any of the requirements may result in the repayment of venture award funds and/or ineligibility for such funds in the future.