One of the world’s leading business accelerators, MassChallenge, has announced it is opening a new office in Downtown Houston. Landing a recognized program like MassChallenge is viewed by many as a coup for Houston as the city’s innovation ecosystem continues to build momentum.

The announcement is one of a series of wins for the region including new details emerging on Rice University’s new innovation district dubbed The Ion, the $25 million first closing of the HX Venture Fund of funds, the announcement of TMC3, the Texas Medical Center’s translational research campus, and several others. 

MassChallenge Texas’ office will be located in Houston’s Innovation Corridor in the GreenStreet development and is expected to support up to 25 early-stage startups through a zero-equity, six-week bootcamp in the summer of 2019. 

Several highlights from the announcement:

The program includes a unique range of intensive in-person training, mentoring, community connectivity, and virtual classes – all at zero cost and for zero equity.  The program is tailored for startups that have raised no more than $500,000 in equity-based funding and generated less than $1 million in revenue in the last 12 months.

MassChallenge Texas, which launched in Austin in 2018, is the second domestic and seventh international location in the MassChallenge’s network. With the support of corporate partners, innovation leaders and local government, MassChallenge Texas accelerated 84 companies that have raised more than $30M in funding, generated $20M in revenue, and created 524 jobs. In its inaugural year, the Texas-based accelerator awarded $500,000 in equity free cash to top startups from their program. By expanding to Houston, MassChallenge Texas is continuing its commitment to strengthening and growing the innovation ecosystem across the Lone Star State, working to make Texas the best place in the world to innovate.”

MassChallenge is a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators headquartered in Boston. The Houston location joins with Austin and Rhode Island as the only domestic outposts for the organization, along with international offices in Israel, Mexico, and Switzerland.

Additional coverage in the Houston Chronicle and Houston Business Journal.