Launch and grow your start-up through the VenturePad Accelerator (VPA), the SF North Bay’s premier start-up, innovation, and entrepreneurship center.
Small businesses drive our economy and new job creation. VPA incubates, launches and scales 20 young scaling businesses a year, through 2 cohorts running approximately 5-7 months each. Start-ups in accelerators/incubators double their chances of success over those who aren’t.
Our Why
To empower and activate impact entrepreneurship
Support early-stage, growth-driven companies through education, mentorship, and financing
Build equitable, regenerative business models and ecosystems to drive a sustainable future
Improve startups’ outcomes (3 years or younger)
Focus on underserved populations negatively impacted by pandemic and economy crisis
Increase likelihood to receive the start-ups’ next round of financing significantly sooner.
Community —Find, and grow with your tribe
Cross fertilize with non profits, local government, corporates, advisors, investors, peer founders
Weekly accountability and coaching sessions
Evening gatherings
Monthly deep dives with experts
Lunch and learns
Summits and annual Conference
Demo and Investor Pitch Summit
For Founders
Support and camaraderie from fellow entrepreneurs
The Cohort is the Solution-collective wisdom
A wider and deeper set of innovation skills
The joy of learning from the region’s smartest mentors and thought leaders
A greater capacity to keep honing your innovation skills
Investors
Visibility into hot start-ups ready to scale.
Increased deal flow
Support positive social and regenerative impact in our local region. Invest in local solutions.
Sponsors/ecosystem players
Build new business models and ecosystems that are more equitable, regenerative, circular, sustainable
Get a sneak-peak at hot startups to invest/partner with.
Support entrepreneurship and innovation in the local economy, helping to grow your sector and local employment.
We’re looking for sponsors for our small business learning programs and accelerator. Sponsor packages can be in the form of services or financial contribution. Interested? Fill out this form and/or contact chris@venturepad.works, 415-309-0331.
Accelerator Candidate Profile
Contact
Contact us for a follow up discussion on goals and fit:
Founders/owners: Participation as a member-client requires an accepted application and a monthly fee that is contributed by the member or a sponsor, as needed.
Deliverables
Program Phases
VPA assists participants with 4 evolutionary phases as a young company. New members of the cohort may skip ahead and drop into the phase most relevant for their enterprise:
Professional Services
Based on the start-up’s needs, the VPA services network can provide services for a discounted fee (typically 10-20%). Participant and VPA shall determine which specific services best fit the needs of the Participant and agree on the fees associated with these services in a separate contract.
Business & Marketing Strategy Services: VPA works with you to create a well- defined business plan and marketing strategy based on extensive market research, competitive analysis, and your specific objectives. We will use the business model canvas tool and LivePlan, a best selling online service for developing professional grade plan, pitches and financials.
Business Operation Services: We help with your admin set up and all the State and City licensing paperwork that follows. As needed, participant will be provided office space, conference area, mail service and we can assist you in setting up your bank account and line of credit, bookkeeping and accounting services.
Legal Services: VPA will assist you in any business contracts, employment agreements, trademark or intellectual property handlings and to ensure that you are in regulatory compliance with State and Federal requirements.
New Media Marketing Services: VPA service network can provide website development based on extensive market research and trend analysis, website hosting, and maintenance. These may include integrated marketing, both digital and traditional marketing, email/Ad/campaigns, outreach and fieldwork, signage, as well as SEO, SEM, CMS, etc.
Traditional Marketing Services: Aside from their online marketing tactics, VPA network services can also provide lead gen and sales support, advertising, event planning, print collateral, direct mail and press releases services. They will assist you in locating trade shows and event planning that will help you most cost-efficiently reach your target market.
Accounting, Tax & Financial Management Services: VPA can assist you in all month-to-month as well as year-end accounting and filings such as monthly bill pay, P&L statements, employee payroll, quarterly end reporting, year-end 1099 processing and Federal & State tax filing.
Staff and Advisors
Founder teams have access to a expert, well connected network of advisors and professional services execution help. See profiles of our core team.
Schedule
Cohort One (pilot) January-June 202x. Cohort 2 July-December 202x.
Kickoff session (1/2 day in month 1: orientation, background of participant entity, vision and goals, business model canvas, year 1 monthly milestones, year 2 and 3 milestones
Weekly: accountability sessions with cohort, peer and expert coaching
Monthly: Half day MasterClasses on key management disciplines and practices including planning, strategy, execution, team leadership, funding and financial management, marketing, operations
Graduation and Demo Day: Late June. Cohort presentation to community, peers, community leaders and investor prospects.
Why is this important for Marin and North Bay Economic Development?
Details on Exits
A Bit More About These Companies (by Marin-Sonoma Impact Ventures)
Ultragenyx ($1.3B), a Novato biotech company focusing on rare genetic diseases, is now one of Marin’s largest private employers. Founded by a former BioMarin executive, the company had a successful 2014 IPO and has seen its market cap more than 7x since then, as the company is now valued at over $9B.
Glassdoor ($1.2B), founded in Marin with the goal of giving employees an inside look at companies, now helps job seekers all over the world find jobs and companies they love. Japanese HR conglomerate Recruit Holdings acquired the Mill Valley unicorn in 2018. Glassdoor continues to operate as a standalone business.
Millipede ($325M+), founded in Santa Rosa with offices near the STS airport, developed a medical ring to be used for valve repair when treating heart disease. Boston Scientific acquired the company in 2018.
Claret Medical ($220M), also based in the same Santa Rosa medical device cluster, developed a system that reduces the risk of stroke during aortic valve replacements. They also sold to Boston Scientific in 2018.
KRAVE Jerky ($220M), founded in the city of Sonoma in 2009, created an all-natural snack brand of premium jerky products. Hershey’s acquired the company in 2015 before ultimately selling the company back to Sonoma Brands in 2020.
Cyan ($215M), founded by veterans of the North Bay’s Telecom Valley cluster, offered software-defined networks and packet-optical solutions for service providers, data center operators and private networks. The company completed a successful IPO in 2013 before ultimately being acquired by Maryland-based Ciena for $488 million in 2015.
ClairMail ($173M), founded in Novato before relocating to San Rafael, built infrastructure around mobile banking and payments systems. UK-based Monitise, a specialist in mobile banking, acquired the Marin FinTech startup in 2012.
mFoundry ($165M), a Larkspur-based FinTech startup, was acquired by Jacksonville-based FIS in 2013. The company built SaaS-based mobile banking solutions for financial institutions and retailers across the U.S.
Enphase Energy ($159M), founded in Petaluma by other veterans of the North Bay’s Telecom Valley cluster, offers a micro-inverter system that delivers solar energy to homes and businesses. Since its 2012 IPO, the company’s share price had a very tumultuous run before increasing substantially in 2019 and skyrocketing in 2020: it’s market cap is now more than $25.3B, or 159x the IPO lock-out price.
Zep Solar ($158M), a San Rafael-based solar startup that built a rail-free module mounting system, sold to SolarCity in 2014 in just its fifth year of operations. SolarCity was later acquired by Tesla and, well, we all know how that stock has performed as of late.
Teknovus ($123M), a Petaluma-based producer of computer chips and software for broadband access networks, was acquired by Irvine-based Broadcom in 2010. At the time of the acquisition, the company had come to employ 70 people in Petaluma
