Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator


Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator is an American seed accelerator launched in January 2011.
ERA runs two four-month startup accelerator programs per year, the first starting in January and the second starting in June.
By analogy to education terminology, candidates for each semiannual accelerator program are called "applicants". The group of startup companies admitted into each semiannual cohort are collectively referred to as a "class". Startups that successfully graduate the accelerator program are called "alumni".
ERA alumni startup companies include Parking Panda,Cups, Select, Squarefoot, WebThriftStore, PublicStuff, numberFire, DogSpot , and Flourish Savings.
ERA has launched over 375 startups which have raised more than US $2 billion and have a collective market valuation of over $10 billion.
New York City has risen to second place in the startup venture investment market, passing significant global hubs such as London, Beijing, Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, and Boston, according to 2019 global ranking by Startup Genome. Some well-known startups have now sprung out of NYC, such as Foursquare, Kickstarter, Gilt, Etsy, Tumblr, DoubleClick and MongoDB. These developments gave Manhattan the nickname "Silicon Alley". ERA operates within this New York startup ecosystem.
New York's largest organization focused on the New York technology, startup, and entrepreneurial ecosystem, AlleyWatch, described ERA as "the longest-running NYC accelerator program" and "one of the most successful accelerators in the country." Forbes says that many consider ERA to be "the top tech accelerator in New York." Independent academic research organization SARP ranked ERA in the top 20 seed accelerators of the U.S. in each of the 4 years 2012 -2015, but has never included ERA in their metal tiers. Growth Mentor describes ERA as "New York City’s largest accelerator program." Ideamotive describes ERA as "one of the all-time favorites of the New York startup scene." Of the over 100 accelerators and incubators operating in NYC, Crain's New York Business magazine described ERA as the "best-known" NYC tech accelerator. Crain's also ranked ERA #1 most active VC firm in the New York metropolitan area in 2019, and fifth in terms of funding round dollars.

History

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator was founded in New York City in 2010 by Silicon Valley IT veteran Murat Aktihanoglu, serial entrepreneur Jonathan Axelrod, and Charlie Kemper, venture capitalist. The first cohort was enrolled in ERA's inaugural summer 2011 accelerator program.

Qualification for program

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator receives 1,000 to 2,000 web applications for each of its semiannual accelerator programs.
ERA admits 10 to 15 startup applicants into each of its semiannual accelerator programs.
Unlike accelerators that specialize in startups who cater to a single industry, ERA is an industry generalist.
ERA seeks startup companies that would thrive in markets where New York City has a commanding presence, such as Internet technology, mobile technology, FinTech, SaaS, E-commerce, media, marketing, advertising, education, fashion tech, real estate, entertainment, HealthTech, and logistics. Notwithstanding, the startups do not have to be from New York, or even headquartered there. For example, Squarefoot was initially based in Houston, Texas, but upon graduation from the ERA accelerator tried its hand at the much larger New York commercial real estate market.
ERA accepts startup companies who will either serve, or disrupt, these target markets. In fact, some alumni startup companies are "disrupting the disrupters", such as CUPS unifying the independent coffee shop experience to compete against the Starbucks chain, and Dashride automating ride-hailing for legacy taxi services so they can take on Uber.
ERA looks for either pure information technology companies, or companies whose product has a significant information technology thrust. For the vast majority of ERA startups, that IT dimension is software or software-related, not hardware.
ERA is agnostic with respect to whether applicant startup companies serve the B2B market, the B2C market, or both.
As an investor seeking a return, ERA does not accept not-for-profit applicant companies.
ERA wants companies whose product solves a pain point so severe that customers demand it, rather than a nice-to-have product that simply makes life better. Their thinking is that painkillers sell better than vitamins, and so are easier to monetize.
From a size vantage point, ERA prefers startups with two- to four-person founding teams, working full time on their venture, with a least one founder possessing strong technical skills.
Most ERA startups are early stage, with an assembled team and having developed an initial product. Many have some early customers and revenue. ERA considers early users and revenue a good sign the product has traction.
ERA expects a startup's pitch deck to illuminate key dimensions such as the problem, solution, business model, market, underlying technology, marketing strategy, sales strategy, competition, risks, scalability, startup team, track record, current status, milestones, and references.
Startup teams must be able to articulate their business model in terms of KPIs such as customer LTV, CAC, TAM, SAM, and SOM.
Applicant startup companies must be willing and able to temporarily relocate to ERA's New York facility for the entire four-month program.

Description

For each startup company accepted into the ERA accelerator program, ERA claims to deliver coaching and mentorship from over 500 resident experts, members of the New York IT community, and entrepreneurs. Sometimes these mentors also become investors.
ERA tailors the curriculum to match the individual startup's requirements. For example, if a startup's founders need to implement mobile payments or protect IP, ERA delivers that specific training.
The ERA accelerator program culminates in Demo Day, where each startup company pitches their business to an audience of approximately 700 potential investors. Each presenter is introduced by unique walk-on music. Reporters covering Demo Day have described it as "part Shark Tank, part commencement ceremony." During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, ERA instead conducted Demo Days online via live streamed videoconferences.
ERA also connects startups with a network of angel investors, VC investors, and hybrid super angel investors.
In addition, ERA provides each startup company accepted into the accelerator program:
ERA invests $150,000 on a post-money SAFE in return for 6% of each company accepted into a given cohort.
ERA does not take a management or board position in the startup company.

Staffing

Below are illustrative examples of the type of people and expertise that ERA assigns to each startup company in the accelerator program.
ERA surrounds the startup company with:
  • on-site ERA staff
  • resident entrepreneurs
ERA also connects the startup company with mentors. The mentors specialize in various fields such as IT technology, product design, UI, and UX. For example:
Finally, ERA partners the startup with investing experts such as:
Startup advocate Don Dodge identified five outcomes that a startup venture seeks from any accelerator or incubator: 1) speeding business maturation 2) developing the product 3) honing a pitch 4) raising capital 5) gaining exposure to investors and media.

Business and product

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator aims to strengthen a startup company's business model. Several ERA alumni companies credit their time in the accelerator program with rapidly building their business model. For example, Mariya Nurislamova, Founder of Scentbird, quantifies her learning pace inside the ERA accelerator program at six times faster. Nurislamova was thus able to use the first half of the program to sequentially test four unsuccessful business strategies, before following a mentor's suggestion to develop her immediately successful subscription-based business model. Likewise, it was at the suggestion of ERA mentors that alumni startup Chicory started charging food brands a virtual slotting fee to put their product directly into the buyer's online shopping cart.