It’s that time of year again, and I don’t mean the time for a “Gilmore Girls” rewatch or back-to-school shopping: Applications for AlphaLab Gear’s 2024 cohort are open. If you’re a hardware-focused startup founder and looking for guidance, the Innovation Works-led accelerator might be a good fit.
“Our program is completely custom to meet a company’s immediate needs ranging from developing new versions of a prototype, to deep-dive financial analysis, to design improvements for large scale manufacturing,” an announcement said.
Since its founding in 2013, startups such as AlgenAir, Module and 2022 RealLIST Startups honoree CleanRobotics have participated in the program. The program itself lasts for five months, during which companies receive assistance in building their products, scaling and networking. Founders receive educational programming to assist with their company’s growth, access to AlphaLab Gear office space and coaching to help them lay out goals and enact a plan to realize them.
For financial support, AlphaLab Gear provides hardware entrepreneurs with up to $100,000 in funding. This marks a change from years prior, when participants received up to $50,000 in funding; now, they receive $50,000 upon acceptance and $50,000 when they complete agreed upon milestones. Additionally, cohort members will be moving into the Robotics Factory in the Lawrenceville Tech Forge Building as it has more space and has the equipment needed to produce prototypes.
Once their time in the program is complete, participants can access up to $800,000 in follow-on investment from the Innovation Works seed fund. Other forms of support for alumni include continued use of office space and invitations to Innovation Works portfolio programming and events.
AlphaLab Gear “is for any type of physical product,” Innovation Works VP of Communications Terri Glueck said. “That could be a consumer product or something that helps businesses. Also, founders may be at different stages of development, some earlier, some further down the development road. All are welcome to apply.”
If you’re an early-stage startup founder, the applications will remain open until Sept. 29. But, if you need additional information before you make a commitment, the AlphaLab Gear team is hosting a virtual AlphaLab Gear information session at noon on Sept. 6.
Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.Before you go...
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