MassChallenge is a global, zero-equity startup accelerator, founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009. MassChallenge is headquartered in Boston's

Seaport District The Seaport District, or simply the Seaport, is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It is part of the larger neighborhood of South Boston, and is also sometimes called the Innovation District. The Seaport is a formerly industrial area that ...

in the Innovation and Design Building, and has additional U.S. locations in Texas and Rhode Island, as well international locations in Israel, Mexico, and Switzerland.

History

MassChallenge co-founders John Harthorne and Akhil Nigam were working as strategy consultants at

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...

during the

global financial crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

in 2008 when they developed MassChallenge. MassChallenge secured early support from successful entrepreneurs like Desh Deshpande and Joe Fallon, the public sector including

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...

the then-

Mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...

and

the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, and large organizations like The Blackstone Charitable Foundation and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

. During its first Boston-based cohort in 2010, MassChallenge accelerated 111

startups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

Notable alumni

JoyTunes JoyTunes Ltd. (DBA Simply ) is a privately held company developing software that teaches creative hobbies, from playing music to drawing and more. The company started out creating mobile apps that teach learners around the world how to play musica ...

, a music app producer * Drync, a wine mobile app for iOS platforms *''

Her Campus ''Her Campus'' is an online magazine targeted at the female college student demographic. Content in the magazine is written by more than 7,000 contributors from more than 400 campus chapters located in nine countries. The magazine was founded ...

'', an online newsmagazine for college women *Global Research Innovation & Technology, manufacturer of the

Leveraged Freedom Chair The Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC) was an all-terrain wheelchair made from bicycle parts. History Amos Winter, a PhD graduate from MIT, travelled to Tanzania during his work, and found that conventional wheelchairs are inadequate in areas without ...

* LiquiGlide, a plant-based liquid-impregnated surface coating *

RallyPoint RallyPoint is a privately held American company founded in 2012 by military veterans Yinon Weiss and Aaron Kletzing at Harvard Business School. The company is a professional network serving the US military and its veterans, and has been calle ...

, a professional network for US military members * Ministry of Supply, a business wear men's fashion brand * Moneythink, a non-profit organization that places college volunteers in high school classrooms to teach courses in financial literacy and entrepreneurship

References

External links

* {{US Business Incubators Non-profit organizations based in Boston Entrepreneurship organizations Companies based in Boston 501(c)(3) organizations Startup accelerators