Philly Startup Leaders Accelerator announces 2018 cohort

Philly Startup Leaders, the 10-year-old network of entrepreneurs that aims to support the local tech ecosystem, just announced the 2018 cohort of its annual accelerator.

As part of the 12-week program, the companies get access to mentorship, weekly programming and end with a Demo Day that aims to connect the startups to investors and community members. No equity is taken as part of the accelerator.

The seven early stage companies are in a number of different verticals: from delivery to health IT.

• WeGardn: The makers of a “farm-to-table marketplace” has a database of 100 food suppliers. (realLIST ’18)
• Saturn Care: Conshohocken-based digital health company that helps people manage diabetes and other chronic conditions. (realLIST ’18)
• Besto: An app that seeks to connect potential pet parents to foster pets.
• NativX: Philly-based developers of a mobile application that provides locally-sourced recommendations for travelers in eight U.S cities.
• Wearwell: An impact-focused ecommerce shop offering environmentally-friendly items under a subscription model.
• Jenzy: A mobile app that helps parents size their kids’ feet correctly.
• Employee Cycle: A data analytics company in the human resources space, offering a dashboard aimed at HR managers.

“We’re excited to help our Accelerator companies create structure to their workflow and leverage PSL’s network of mentors and resources,” said Jaclyn Koehn, who leads the nonprofit’s events and programming. “Ultimately our goal is to increase each startups’ chance of success in building their company in Philadelphia.”

Our 2018 #accelerator has officially kicked-off! The seven promising Philly startups are absolute dynamite and we can't wait to help them grow! 🌱🌳 pic.twitter.com/760QKLqYHa

— PhillyStartupLeaders (@startupleaders) January 24, 2018

Per Bruce Marable, founder of Employee Cycle, the accelerator offers tools to speed up scaling at his company, founded May 2016.

“Our goals are to network, learn from the experience of really smart people in multiple areas of our business, get access to funding sources, and work within a framework to get more done in less time,” said Marable.

For Jenzy cofounders Carolyn Horner and Eve Ackerley, the accelerator holds value by way of the mentors’ expertise.

All programming will take place at WeWork’s 1601 Market St. spot.