The ideal candidate will have a passion and knowledge of a particular area, or be willing to work with the Startup UCLA team around a new idea that can be launched during the summer. While helpful, no startup experience is required – we are more concerned with your dedication and desire. You may or may not have other team members working with you, but ideally you have a co-founder that complements your particular skill set. We encourage balanced teams, which may include business, design, engineering and other disciplines.  During the ten weeks, you’ll work with our expert team and guest mentors to refine your concept and (especially for existing businesses) determine new metrics for success. You’ll work alongside 8-9 other startups in the 2018 cohort comprised of high-caliber UCLA students, alumni, and their team members. Year-after-year, we find that one of the most valuable and enjoyable aspects of the program for the teams is collaborating, bouncing ideas off of, and challenging one another. The best work is done when the group (usually 15-20 people) is tight-knit, so we setup social events throughout the summer to encourage this. We also take a trip to Silicon Valley, where you’ll visit the offices of high-profile startups (we’ve visited NerdWallet and Facebook in past years) and pitch in the offices of prominent venture capital firms (such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mithril Ventures, and Institutional Venture Partners). The accelerator culminates with a demo day at UCLA where you pitch to a crowd of hundreds and network with investors and alumni to further your startup.

Startup UCLA doesn’t end there though. As an alumni of the Summer Accelerator you’ll be part of an exclusive network of the more than 40 companies and 150 people who have gone through the program since 2012. Three Startup UCLA companies have been acquired and eight have either received outside funding from the likes of Tim Draper, Steve Case, Marc Benioff, and Troy Carter or are profitable. Alumni of Startup UCLA have gone on to work at Uber, Facebook, Google, and Buzzfeed, to name a few.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work on your startup full-time in our co-working space from 7/9 – 9/13
• Attend all of our evening events (usually on Mon/Tues/Wed). Weekly Fireside Chats, Skill Workshops
• Participate in our Silicon Valley trip
• Participate in Demo Day at UCLA on 9/13
• Stay involved with Startup UCLA and its alumni network after the accelerator

PERKS + BENEFITS

Startup UCLA Pre-Accelerator

Beginning this year, Startup UCLA is piloting an additional program, the Startup UCLA Pre-Accelerator. Aimed at assisting teams not accepted into the Summer Accelerator with the development of their ideas and startups, the program will run concurrently from 7/9 – 9/13 and provide:
· $500 stipend per team (dispensed at the end of program)
· Weekly meeting with a Startup UCLA Venture Consultant
· Access to weekly skills workshops alongside the Summer Accelerator teams
· $5,000 in Amazon Web Services credits
· $3,000 in Google Cloud Platform credits
· Complimentary legal guidance from a premiere law firm
· Automatic entry into the interview round of the 2019 Summer Accelerator application

Teams are not required to be in Los Angeles during the summer in order to participate in the Pre-Accelerator. Teams are welcome to pursue other ventures, internships, jobs, etc. while in the program.

If you would like to be considered for the Pre-Accelerator, check the box indicating so at the end of this application. (Doing so will not affect the consideration of your application for the Summer Accelerator.)

Early Admission to the Summer Accelerator application dates