New incubator Ecelerator wants to play match maker between entrepreneurs and corporations

Ecelerator founder Ken Kay is a big believer in taking elements of regional startup ecosystems such as meetups, hackathons and accelerators and morphing them to appeal and benefit corporations as well as entrepreneurs.
After a visit to DreamIt Ventures earlier this year, Kay said he was inspired to create Ecelerator, a B2B-focused incubator in Hoboken, New Jersey.
We know, we know. Hoboken is much more 67th Ward than City of Bortherly Love. But Kay resides in Princeton and has been active in Central Jersey angel investor circles. He’s also the founder of icihere, an iPhone app that powers Philadelphia arts events.
“[Ecelerator] takes advantage of this region’s very vibrant corporate community. When I reached out to folks like Merck, Dow Jones… they were very hungry to connect to the broader tech scene,” says Kay.
The incubator will act as an outsourced research and development department for nearby corporations. Coporations will be “members” of the accelerator that will tell Ecelerator the technology needs it has as well as products that specific business could use. For example, Kay says, a business could say “we want to streamline our payment system on the iPad.”


The accelerator will then reach out  and build a team with a expertise in that need, playing matchmaker between corporations and entrepreneurs.
“It’s two-sided process though, a lot of ideas will come from the entrepreneurs,” says Kay. Companies will also be able to post needs on the eclerator website.
“If done properly, the entrepreneurs will have a set of requirements that they know will at least net them one customer.”
The investment will come from private individuals, venture capital and angel investors. The New Jersey Economic Authority is also interested in funding and Kay believes that corporations will also get involved in the funding mix, though no set formula has been established.
And Kay isn’t joking about applying meetups and hackathons to the enterprise. He helped organize the first Enterprise Tech Meetup and says that the event had 90 attendees.
“I’d like to get a similar group in Philadelphia if anyone is interested,” says Kay.