In June 2017, BRIIA became a member of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) – a highly curated community of independent Accelerators, Partners, & Investors. This was a significant milestone for BRIIA as we step on to the global stage of entrepreneurship.
GAN was founded by Patrick Riley in 2010. Patrick was an early member of the leadership team at TechStars and saw two problems that needed fixing.
First, there was growing confusion about the terms “accelerator” and “incubator”. Even among organizations that called themselves an accelerator, there was wide variation in the kind of relationship that was formed with the participant companies. Hence there was to set some standards so that entrepreneurs could understand what they were getting into when applying for the different programs.
The second problem Patrick identified was that there wasn’t a good guide to follow when starting a true accelerator. Patrick had learned a lot from the early successes and failures at TechStars and thought that there ought to be a way to codify this knowledge and share it among those who are creating an accelerator.
The BRIIA/GAN relationship all began with a simple web contact request in late January 2017. After multiple conversations, a formal application and a trip to Denver to meet the GAN team and other GAN accelerator managers, BRIIA was accepted as a GAN Launch Member. With GAN’s support we are now primed to join others who are building a thriving startup community in the Tri-Valley.
Why did BRIIA join? Put simply, because GAN helped us accelerate our own start-up journey. Here’s how we benefit from GAN membership:
- it helps communicate our message that BRIIA is a true Accelerator
- it gets us plugged into a worldwide network of over 80 Accelerators (with over 140 locations)
- it provides BRIIA with a playbook that accelerated the development of our application process, our program and BRIIA operations
- we gain access to a global network of mentors
- it provides over $1Million in “perks” for our startup companies (discounts and credits that help stretch scarce cash during the early stages of startups)
- it makes our Accelerator graduates eligible for investment by GAN Ventures – the venture capital fund formed in 2016 to support the best graduates of GAN Accelerators
But most importantly, GAN and BRIIA share a common goal: we want start-ups to be able to build powerful businesses and make a meaningful impact wherever they call home. For GAN that means connecting entrepreneurs, accelerators, corporate partners and investors around the world. For BRIIA, we want to create a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Tri-Valley and will be doing everything we can to support entrepreneurs who want to call the Tri-Valley home.
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