Top Incubators and Accelerators in DC Area

Entrepreneurs and startups require many resources such as a working environment, networking with professionals, mentor(s) and funds to grow and develop startups. Simpalm is ready to help startups whether they need to build a prototype for funding, an MVP to validate their product idea, or full software development to bring ideas to life. At present, there are several active incubators and accelerators in the Washington D.C area (DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland’s DC metro area). If you are a startup founder in the Washington DC area, you should contact them and share your business plan to arrange any desired resource. Here is a list of some top incubators/accelerators in DC area you should check out:

List of Incubators:

1863 Venture

1863 Ventures is one of the leading national business development programs designed to bridge the gap between entrepreneurship and equity. The DC-based incubator’s mission is to create $100 billion in new wealth by and for New Majority Entrepreneurs by 2030. The programs try to accelerate the new majority of entrepreneurs from high potential to high growth. The 1893 venture was founded by Melissa Bradley, entrepreneur, VC investor, and Georgetown University associate professor. The firm provides many programs designed to support the early-stage as well as the growth stage of startups.

Halcyon Incubator

Halcyon accelerates the impact-driven future of business. They believe there’s a competitive advantage to having a social mission in your DNA, and that impact-driven businesses represent a powerful opportunity to drive equity and inclusivity in the workplace and society.

They are community supporting impact-driven businesses and their founders through space, community, and access. Their programs offer fellowships for social entrepreneurs and funding vehicles to help them scale their ventures.

Bethesda Green

Bethesda Green incubator program focuses on the startups and young entrepreneurs of the Washington, DC region. It is a non-profit organization founded by local entrepreneurs. The incubator has worked with more than 50 companies, out of which they retained 70 percent of the companies. They help startups work on innovative solutions to promote sustainability and environmental and social impact throughout the economy. They provide continuous support through the business chain for a tenure of up to 4 years and help them financially by arranging funds from the partners and investors. They have an expert team that builds connections with government, local and regional agencies.

WeWork Labs

WeWork Labs have started its business in 2010 to assist the startups and early-stage businesses. They provide entrepreneurs with in-house training programs to help them in maximizing their business potential. They have an innovative team to guide the entrepreneurs in scaling their business ideas and help them to convert them into reality. They are in partnerships with universities, colleges, governments/private companies located in the Washington, DC area. The member’s entrepreneurs are benefited by making resources available such as funds from the investors, mentoring and leadership from experts, networking with the institutions.

Global Development Incubator

Global development incubators focus on startups having a social impact on a large scale. They have developed a foundation for startups that can increase their efficiency and maximize their potentials. They conduct programs: the initiative incubator and the social enterprise accelerator, for the better implementation and scaling of their ideas. GDI has experienced mentors that assist them in scaling their business. They provide the startups with resolutions to the complex issues that they have already tracked. They connect the startups with the networks of investors, institutions, and partners across the sectors. They help the startups in the arrangement of the essential resources, such as funding, infrastructure, workers, and other resources. To avail of the benefits, the startups have to enter into a partnership with GDI. The GDI assist their partners for 2-3 years and support their innovative ideas to transform into reality. A continuous review process is conducted to make their ideas more effective and successful.

Also Read : Top Incubators in Chicago

TasteLab

TasteLab is an incubator that focuses on incubating the commercial and kitchen based companies. They have memberships available for bakers, caterers, confectioners, meal makers, and other entrepreneurs associated with food and beverage industries. The members are benefited from the resources they are lacking with and enabling them to convert their ideas into reality. They have experienced mentors that assist startups in connecting with the finance agencies, food suppliers, distributors, transporters, and other related contacts. In addition to the resources, they also provide designing and development services that are important for the growth of their business.

Capria

Capria is a leading global investment firm and accelerator that works with local fund managers in emerging markets across Washington DC. The program intends to work with startups that are focused on creating innovative solutions to global problems. Capria provides smart, flexible capital, access to leading impact fund managers and investors in Washington DC. Investors and catalytic supporters include Crystal Springs Foundation, World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) Unitus Labs, Sorenson Impact Foundation, Mohandas Pai, Lemelson Foundation, and other leading impact investors.

Georgetown Entrepreneurship Summer Launch Incubator

The Georgetown Entrepreneurship Summer Launch Incubator (SLI) is a popular startup incubator program for students in DC. It is created exclusively for students of Georgetown and current year graduates who want to launch a new business. Each startup gets a dedicated support team, mentors, peers, experienced entrepreneurs, and a stipend of $2000 per team. They also help startups to find local investors or entrepreneurs, providing an invitation to networking events and an opportunity to present their ideas to the Washington DC entrepreneurship community.

5G First Responder Lab

The 5G First Responder Lab is a leading tech incubator program that identifies good technology companies from around the globe and provides them access to 5G technology to develop, test, and refine their 5G solutions for public safety. It is a first-of-its-kind incubator program sponsored by Verizon in partnership with Responder Corp.

AU Entrepreneurship Incubator

The AU Entrepreneurship Incubator program is focused on developing and empowering American University student entrepreneurs to convert their ideas into environmental, economic, and social progress. They assist graduate students, undergraduate students, and recent alumni to develop their business ideas into successful ventures. They provide ventures with experienced mentors, networking opportunities, access to resources, workspace, and guidance during the early stages of business development.

Fedtech

Fedtech offers a startup studios program for entrepreneurs to start a new venture. It is an 8- 24 weeks program where entrepreneurs are paired with a technology developed in a federal or university lab. The program helps them validate the demand for technology through customer discovery and build a lean business model.

List of Accelerator :

Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator

TechStars Future of Longevity Accelerator is a DC-based program that runs in partnership with Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company that concentrates on innovative solutions to manage the incomplete needs of older adults and their caretakers. Their themes include caregiver support, aging in place, care coordination, preventive health, financial wellness, and social engagement.

Seed Spot

Seed Spot is a nonprofit organization that supports all social entrepreneurs in building a product, technology, or service that improves lives and makes the world a better place. With a mission to accelerate, educate, and invest in social entrepreneurs, Seed Spot empowers them with programs like The Impact Accelerator and the 2-day lunch camp. They provide entrepreneurs with anything they need to succeed like access to resources, community partners, mentors, and capital sources.

Georgetown Startup Accelerator

The Georgetown Startup Accelerator (GSA) program helps Georgetown alumni entrepreneurs in early-stage startup companies by providing experienced peers, mentors, and top niche experts to help accelerate their business progress. The program works entirely remotely, so companies can apply no matter where they are based. They provide weekly workshops led by different experts in GU’s network of established alumni, mentors, and faculty.

Union Kitchen Food Accelerators

Union Kitchen is a DC-based accelerator that helps build successful Food & Beverage businesses. They invest in launching and growing successful consumer packaged goods businesses from the very beginning stage. They have a 12-week accelerator program in which they provide networks, expertise, and infrastructure to food-based startups to scale brands efficiently and effectively.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)

Entrepreneurs’ Organization offers an Accelerator program. It is the only accelerator program run by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. EO is the catalyst that helps first-stage entrepreneurs to grow their businesses to the next level. Its mission is to empower entrepreneurs with the tools and skills needed to grow their businesses and improve their leadership skills.

Mach 37

Mach 37 is a startup accelerator program that focuses on startups in the cyber industry. They have helped more than 40 startups from the date of their incorporation. They offer a 12-week cyber accelerator program to help early-stage startups focus on cyber security, machine learnings, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, IoT, neural networks, industrial controls, and other cyber-related verticals. They provide startups with resources, mentorship, business education, and other services essential to grow and scale businesses in the industrial ecosystem.

Startup Shell

Startup Shell is a startup incubator and coworking space program run by a student at the University of Maryland. As Startup Shell is a 501c3 non-profit organization, its structure is different from most incubators. They provide resources such as prototyping labs, access to legal services, and technology subscriptions. Members don’t have to pay fees to use the space, nor does Startup Shell take any equity from companies.

Dcode accelerator program

Dcode is an accelerator program that helps tech startups looking to enter the federal government market. It connects the tech industry and government to drive commercial innovation in the federal market. DCode works with more than 100 tech companies in different industries such as cyber security, big data, and healthcare that can change the way the government operates.

Village Capital Accelerator program

Founded in 2009, Village Capital is one of the top accelerator programs based in Washington, DC. Village Capital discovers, educates, and invests in entrepreneurs solving real-world problems. They are more focused on helping new, early-stage, and big companies. The village capital program creates communities of entrepreneurs and their ventures to improve the growth and success of startups. They aim to invest in financial services, technology, and information technology sectors in the United States.

Street Entrepreneurs

Street Entrepreneurs (SE) is a community-driven accelerator program that provides business education, talent exchanging sessions, and interactive workshops to empower entrepreneurs’ ideas. Entrepreneurs are first selected based on talent and showcase. Then they are provided with business education to build skills through an iterative approach. SE connects entrepreneurs to mentors and networks and exposes them to funding opportunities.

Startups Ignite

Startups Ignite an ecosystem by creating programs and communities to accelerate startup ventures. They have a 3-month accelerator program in which mentors work with early-stage startups to validate their idea and business model. After a 3 month program they further support startups for one year with continued guidance, mentorship, exposure, collaboration, and connecting them to partners in the ecosystem.

PeaceTech lab Accelerator

The PeaceTech Accelerator program provides the mentorship and training needed to scale profit and non-profit organizations that focus on reducing violent conflict using technology to scale peace-building efforts. They help startups to grow more securely, rapidly, and cost-effectively. Startups are chosen based on their ability to create innovative technologies that handle, mitigate, forecast, or prevent conflict and promote peace.

CivStart

CivStart accelerator is a unique program that provides mentors, founders, and advisers experts in local & state government challenges and opportunities. The program’s goal is to help disruptive innovations quickly and correctly enter the state & local markets. It is a 24-month program provided with product development, customer development, network building, and the right direction for startups for securing state & local contracts.

Smart City Works

Smart City Works Venture Labs is the first business actuator, a new class of business accelerator that can more rapidly commercialize new technologies and innovations. It is mainly focused on urban tech, infrastructure, and improving cities. The business acceleration programs select some of the world’s most promising high-tech ventures and help them grow from early-stage to high-growth businesses.

US Ignite

US Ignite accelerators program helps smart city startups launch or scale their cloud-based service or businesses. The program has the support of Amazon web services. They provide weekly online sessions for eight weeks to the participants to develop a solid idea for functions using cloud services across eight weekly online sessions. The Startup Accelerator program has a final training event at the Amazon offices in Washington, DC.

Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator

The Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator program guides early-stage startups and growth-driven companies to market success. The accelerator program opens tremendous opportunities for early-stage startups by providing coaching, advice, and mentoring on monetizing and scaling up their ideas/products/services from the business and tech leaders inside Wells Fargo.

Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed

Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is a national initiative launched in 2014 to help emerging startup hubs grow. Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund invests in seed and early-stage startups that are located outside of New York City, Silicon Valley, and Boston. The Rise of the Rest Seed Funds has the support of experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders.

SPROCKIT

SPROCKIT is the trusted global innovation marketplace with a vision to streamline challenges and boost opportunities for enterprises and startups. It helps leading media, entertainment, and technology companies to bring innovative products, services, and revenue models to market through collaborations, investments, and acquisitions.

Startup Caucus

The Startup Caucus accelerator program focused on entrepreneurs and companies at every stage entering the political marketplace. They invest in seed and early-stage companies that develop products to help Republicans to win elections The incubator provides a network of mentors, business development, marketing, sales, regular content and programming, and a community of fellow entrepreneurs.

Thanks to our contributor for helping us in creating this list:

• Mike Malloy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwmalloy/
• Kaitlin Capobianco : https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlincapobianco/
• Zach Leverenz : https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachleverenz/
• Steven Rodriguez : https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenarodriguez/
• Sanjay Sharma : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjay-sharma-491671126/