Startups

PSLU Accelerator: It’s all about the relationships

Philly Startup Leaders has selected six startups for its latest accelerator class. The free program pairs new ventures with established founders in a bid to strengthen the Philadelphia startup community.

We started the PSLU Accelerator with a clear mission in mind: To help Philly startups grow by helping them access the resources in our community.
Two of our companies learned about our program through previous engagement in the community. Andrew Nakkache, CEO of Habitat said, “We found out about the accelerator through Start. Stay. Grow. We’re building Habitat in Philly, for Philly, and couldn’t be happier to have the Philadelphia entrepreneurship community invest in our team and our dream.”
As every successful startup leader learns from experience, a network of relationships is the key to moving the idea from concept to company.

Our recipe for success: Social Capital

Everything we do is “by the community, for the community.” Financial capital is one necessary element of launching a business, but it is not the only ingredient for success.
PSL-U provides the social capital needed to cultivate an idea and transform it into a reality. “We recently raised capital, so keeping the equity while getting some top quality advice is really appealing for us based on where we are right now,” Matt Carey, CEO of Abaris, said. “All of the mentors in PSL-U are founders who are actively working on building their own businesses. As a founder, I’ve found it most helpful to be around people who are a couple steps ahead of me in building their businesses.”

Here’s how it works

We reviewed over 50 applications this year, and we chose the top six startups for our second accelerator class. Each company is paired with the CEO a successful Philly startup who can provide practical advice and help them make the connections they need to scale. PSL-U takes no fee and gains no equity from the companies in the accelerator. Our mission is simply to help companies accelerate great ideas into fundable ventures.
Here are the startups:
Paymetrics
Metrics and sales analysis for Paypal

·

Habitat
An app that provides students with a secure marketplace to buy and sell local goods and services

·

Abaris
Make the process of buying an annuity informative, simple and unbiased

  • Team: Matt CareyAdam ColomboNimish Shukla
  • Mentor: Guru founder Rick Nucci

·

Staffluent
A fast and simple way to  find a replacement staffer for a work shift

  • Team: Ann LeeCharlie BowdenErnest BarerNeeraj Bagga
  • Mentor: Arcweb CEO Chris Cera

·

NarrativeDx
Helping hospitals learn from patient narratives to improve care and maximize reimbursements

·

Smack Innovations
A smartphone controller within a steering wheel cover

This is a guest post by Yuval Yarden, a member of the Philly Startup Leaders membership team.
Companies: Philly Startup Leaders

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Celebrate Philly’s winners of the 2024 Technical.ly Awards

16 places to responsibly dispose of old electronics in Philadelphia

An interactive timeline of Philly’s tech ecosystem in 2024

This Week in Jobs: Fill your plate with these 26 tech career opportunities

Technically Media