LatAm List – 500 Startups, one of the most active venture capital firms in the world, recently announced that it would abandon its cohort model for accelerating companies for a rolling admissions process.
Founders can now complete the accelerator program in San Francisco or online from anywhere in the world with no application deadlines as well as flexible start and end dates.
“Demo is changing the way it runs its accelerator to be rolling recruitment,” said Aaron Blumenthal, a 500 Startups venture partner. “It will be making investment decisions year round instead of twice a year. Demo Days will still happen twice a year, founders can pick which Demo Day they want to be a part of.”
Startups will be grouped based on growth stage and sector to begin their four month program.
The accelerator is increasingly targeting startups in emerging markets like Latin America that are now maturing into thriving startup ecosystems.
Other accelerator programs like LA-based MuckerLab, have also moved to a rolling admissions approach, which gives entrepreneurs more flexibility on when and how they join.
“We’re proud to announce that we’ve designed an entirely new platform that’s flexible and tailored to our founders’ timing and needs—not our own. Our goal is to move away from the one-size-fits-all approach of the past, and towards delivering relevant content, based on each founders’ growth stage and needs, precisely when they’re ready for it,” stated Blumenthal in a blog post.
Read more on Techcrunch or 500 Startups’ blog.
