Heritage Group Preparing for Next Accelerator Cohort
The Heritage Group in Indianapolis is accepting applications for its fourth cohort of the THG Accelerator program. The 13-week accelerator provides mentorship, collaboration, and research and development assistance for a group of 10 startups culminating in a demo day in the fall. “It’s been great for the ecosystem. We’ve spun out five companies that have now moved to Indiana as a result,” said Managing Director Nida Ansari.
Ansari discussed the accelerator and its impact in an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
“Each of [the participants’] is a little bit customized because they come in at different points; they’re all generally early stage,” she said. “But, we’ll take them through everything from the basics of fundraising, customer discovery, interacting with their ecosystems, how to build traction, how to pitch to investors, and really, the idea is to make them investable at the end of it.”
The accelerator looks for early-stage, hardtech startups in a variety of industries, including environmental services, industrial tech, battery management systems, and waste management. THG says founders will have the opportunity to leverage on-site lab resources, thought partnership from experts, and a chance to bid for pilot projects.
“The goal is momentum. So, we bring them in. It’s immersive, in-person, 13 weeks and they spin out, and they go on to do many different things,” Ansari said. “They can either go after pipelines of customers that we’ve built out for them or go after lists of investors.”
Ansari adds even though the participants are selected from around the world, the accelerator has brought a major impact to Indiana.
“Many more than the five companies that have moved here have advisors and board members that are in the state. So, they continue to have threads that lead them back here beyond the accelerator, and the hope is that they end up hiring here or they end up moving here.”
The deadline to apply for the accelerator is May 6. The program will begin August 15 with the Demo Day scheduled for November 15.
You can learn more about the THG Accelerator, including how to apply, by clicking here.