Techstars raises $42 million to focus on global expansion

Techstars has raised $42 million in a round led by SVB Financial Group, the holding company of Silicon Valley Bank. The round also featured participation from the Foundry Group and is geared towards helping Techstars expand its global presence.

Since being founded in 2006, Techstars has established startup accelerators around the world. The company currently runs 49 accelerator programs in 35 cities across 16 countries. Most notably, Techstars has backed companies such as Plated, ClassPass, SendGrid and PillPack. Techstars invests approximately $80 million into 490 new startups per year.

With this new round of funding, Techstars aims to accelerate its international expansion. David Cohen, Techstars founder and co-chief executive officer, anticipates that the company will continue “to expand more rapidly, not just in North America and Europe, but also throughout Asia, Latin America, Australia.” More specifically, Cohen states that the funds will help grow the company’s Techstars Studio, where it incubates its own startups; Techstars Ecosystem Development, which helps grow and sustain startup economies; and, Techstars Talent, which lists available job postings in the startup space.

Cohen adds, “We believe that talent is equally distributed around the world, but the opportunity is not. It’s on us to continue to grow our network for the benefit of current and future generations of entrepreneurs around the world.”

Author: Shadi Varkiani