Union partners with 500 Startups

D.C.–based Union announced a new deal this week that will see its platform used as part of the programming of Silicon Valley–based accelerator 500 Startups.

With the partnership, Union will onboard founders, mentors and investors in the 500 Startups community on its platform that is designed to provide a digital presence for mentorship and other business-building resources, according to a statement. 500 Startups’ numbers indicate its has worked with more than 1,800 companies. The accelerator will use Union’s platform as part of its upcoming “batch” of companies.

According to the release, the more formal arrangement comes after a pilot over the last year, in which Union was used in three 500 Startups cohorts. In working together, the entities sought to develop new features for 500 Startups and improve Union. Now, 500 Startups is a client of Union on a SaaS model.

Union, which was initially developed within 1776, became a standalone company in the fall at the same time as the D.C. incubator merged with Benjamin’s Desk. Union also announced a partnership with the Lift Labs accelerator, which is run by Comcast and Techstars.