The Network

6 continents, 63 cities, 50 accelerators—1 standard for entrepreneurial excellence

GAN is the global champion of the seed-stage, mentorship-driven accelerator model and includes over 50 of the most respected accelerators from six continents around the world. Our goal is simple: support the top accelerators that grow top companies. Because of the strength and connections of our members, mentors, investors, founders, and strategic partners… well, the results speak for themselves. We just love what we do.

Our Story

In 2010, two co-founders of TechStars—Brad Feld and David Cohen—had the grand idea to connect the top mentorship-driven, seed-stage accelerators around the world. At the time, TechStars was becoming more well-known and accelerators were popping up everywhere. Alongside the White House's Startup America Initiative, we launched to align top accelerators and create a standardized model for their success. The rest is, as they say, history.

Mixing Board

908 companies Smart founders choose GAN. Over 600 companies have completed a Network program.

Lightening Bolt

$420M raised in financing Savvy startups go with GAN. Our accelerators are helping companies make connections and raise a whole lot of money.

Check-mark

$463k in funding per company Big ideas get bigger shots at success. Founders in GAN accelerators average nearly half a million dollars in funding.

Mixing Board

63 cities The Network touches 63 cities across six continents and continues to grow.

Lightening Bolt

10,300 applications Our system (accelerato.rs) has received 10,300 unique applications from founders.

Mixing Board

2,461 jobs generated Smart businesses generate jobs. GAN accelerators are happily putting folks to work all over the world.

The GAN Advantage

Industry-leading accelerators, recognized on sight

With GAN, members and their founders receive unparalleled support, along with world-class networking opportunities, and access to the best new talent and ideas via our dynamic application system.

Professional development for managing directors
Quarterly GAN meetups
Annual Founders Conference
Annual Managing Directors Conference
Discounts, upgrades and perks for GAN accelerators and their companies

Community of peers
Accelerato.rs Unified application
Connections to mentors and investors
Use of the GAN brand
Consulting Services
Open invitation to all GAN member demo days

In short: We give Clark Kent accelerators their cape to be Superman.

Meet Our Members

A quick look at a few GAN Members

View All…

Victory Spark

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (North America)

Terms

6% equity stake for $20k seed capital and the option for a convertible note of up to $50k

AngelCube

Melbourne (Australia/New Zealand)

Terms

10% equity stake for $20k seed capital

Our Program Criteria

What qualifies an accelerator program for GAN membership?

Short-Term
3-6 month long program
Mentorship-Driven
40-80 mentors
Small class size
max of 10-20 companies going through a program at a time
Accelerator funding
Each program has set aside funding & resources for multiple sessions

Terms are favorable to entrepreneurs
- Companies are not charged to join the acclerator program
- A small equity stake (usually 6-8% in the U.S. and 8-10% non-U.S.)
- Space, internet and desk/chair provided to the entrepreneurs
Strong management teams
(who are usually entrepreneurs themselves)
Have run at least 1 successful program.

Member Spotlight:

Springboard IoT: The First Internet of Things Accelerator

The application deadline for the new Cambridge based Springboard IoT accelerator has just been extended to January 13th. While Springboard is known as a leading web and mobile accelerator, this will be their first IoT program. We caught up with Springboard founder Jon Bradford to learn more about this exciting development.

What is IoT (Internet of Things)?

The term Internet of Things (“IoT”) refers to internet-enabled...

Who We Are

Meet the people behind GAN

Leadership Team

Alex Farcet

Alex Farcet is the co-founder and CEO of Startupbootcamp, a European startup accelerator with programs in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin and soon Berlin and London. He is a partner at Rainmaking, a startup factory with operations in the Nordics, UK and Germany and he is also a hyper active Startup Weekend organizer.