Despite the dismal outlook of the economy and the changed landscape of venture capital funding for web-based companies, a new technology incubator program called Capital Factory is launching in Austin this week. Founded by local entrepreneurs Joshua Baer, Same Decker and Bryan Menell, the new incubator program is currently accepting applications for its first 10-week summer program. Beginning on May 22nd, the summer program for the chosen 10 startups ends in August with a live-streamed presentation from participants, so investors and others interested in the startups can see the culmination of Capital Factory’s first run at an incubator program.
There’s the expected emphasis on mentorship with the Capital Factory, but there’s also some cash rewards as well. Participating startups can receive up to $20,000 and office space, along with some basic IT infrastructure options and recruiting support, among other things.
And Austin is a good city for an incubator program focused on technology, as there’s already an established community of successful entrepreneurs and ready access to other necessary resources for the startup environment. Lucky for the Capital Factory, the deadline for accepting applications is shortly after SXSW, which is also based in Austin.
But is now a good time to start an incubator program? I’ve spoken with a number of incubator program directors since the market took a turn for the worse a few months ago and the overall hope for many of these programs is to weather the storm and focus on funding quality companies. Now’s the time to invest, right? While competition is lower and a focus on a solid business model means more promising returns on investments to incubators such as Capital Factory, the text books all point to such encouraging outlooks for the startup environment. That includes Capital Factory’s own focus on capital-effecient startups that can weather the storm and come out ahead as well.
Founder Joshua Baer is the Founder and CEO of OtherInbox and has a killer combo of technical, business and legal experience that he’ll be sharing as a Capital Factory mentor as well. Sam Decker is the Chief Marketing Offer at Bazaarvice and has authored two books on word-of-mouth marketing, while Bryan Menell is a current adviser for Moximity, MomenumSI and Socialware, and has his own experience launching startups including Fusion Learning Systems. Click here for more info on Capital Factory and applying for this year’s summer program.
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Let me wait and give out my words. Meanwhile if anyone found the program to be legit, please comment here.
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