StartX, Stanford University and Stanford Hospital & Clinics announce $3.6M grant and venture fund

The StartX management team: CPO Divya Nag, founder and CEO Cameron Teitelman and CFO John Melas-Kyriazi (Photo courtesy of StartX)

Stanford University, Stanford Hospital & Clinics (SHC) and StartX, a nonprofit organization that runs a startup accelerator for Stanford‑affiliated entrepreneurs, announced today a three-year partnership. This partnership includes a  $1.2 million yearly grant to StartX as well as a separate, newly created investment vehicle called the Stanford-StartX Fund.  The grant will fund StartX's entrepreneurial education program, and the Stanford-StartX Fund, which is unlimited in the amount it can invest, will support founders and technology emerging from the StartX programs.

The grant money from Stanford University and SHC will help StartX scale and support its program in Silicon Valley, which includes StartX Med, the division of the accelerator program dedicated to medical and biotechnology entrepreneurs. StartX will use the funding for staff development and to continue building its unique, community‑based learning system. The system, designed and implemented by Stanford students, has been tested through 10 accelerator sessions and continues to support over 330 StartX entrepreneurs. In addition to Stanford's funding commitment, StartX has raised $1.65 million over the past two years.

"StartX has evolved from a Stanford student-run initiative into a robust, proven learning system for hundreds of startup founders from throughout the university. We train and house these creative minds, and it is only fitting that we invest in their future success," said Stanford President John Hennessy. "Our grant program and investment in early stage companies is in keeping with Stanford's mission of sharing knowledge and fostering innovation, and is another way we can play a role in accelerating the future development of Stanford students, alumni and scholars."

Cameron Teitelman, founder of StartX, commented, "In 2009, we began StartX on campus, as students aspiring to improve the world through entrepreneurship. Today, our community of top-notch founders is thriving and their businesses have become vehicles for change, innovation and economic impact. This new partnership with Stanford University and SHC will enable StartX to continue developing the most talented, passionate founders out of the university."

StartX, Stanford University and SHC created the Stanford-StartX Fund to help boost the entrepreneurial endeavors of Stanford students, faculty, alumni and staff at a critical, early stage in their ventures. StartX startup teams can now receive financial backing from the university and the hospital to help bring their innovations to market, faster and more efficiently. Any StartX founder raising a round of financing may, at their option, access investment by the Stanford-StartX Fund if the round of financing meets a set of clear and objective criteria. The fund will not take a lead role in company financings, but instead will participate as a minority investor alongside other venture capital and angel investors. This marks the first time either the university or the hospital has developed a fund to invest directly in the entrepreneurs emerging from the Stanford community.

The Stanford-StartX Fund has approved commitments in six companies, including: 

• Knotch – a network that allows like-minded people to connect based on shared interests
• Cytobank - a big data and analytics platform for single-cell technologies such as flow and mass cytometry

Since the program launched, 10 StartX startups have been acquired, with seven in the past year alone. On average, the accelerator's companies have raised more than $1.8 million per startup. By mid-September of this year, 136 companies will have graduated from the program. StartX entrepreneurs are tackling challenges across a broad range of industries: medtech, edtech, consumer Internet, enterprise, mobile, hardware, biotechnology, social enterprise and other industries.

About StartX

StartX is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Silicon Valley that runs one of the world's top startup accelerator programs for Stanford-affiliated entrepreneurs. It builds a community of innovation where the best entrepreneurs can flourish and develop through experiential learning and collective intelligence. StartX provides founders with educational programming, a three-tier mentoring system, office space, access to a talented network of industry partners and other resources. Founded on campus by Stanford students in 2009, the organization is supported by Stanford University, SHC, Kauffman Foundation, Microsoft, Intuit, Cisco, Blackstone Charitable Foundation, AOL, Greylock Partners, Founders Fund, Groupon, AT&T and many others. For more information, visit startx.stanford.edu.

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