Dave McClure’s 500 Startups crew is at it again, with another group of companies joining its Accelerator program. The fourth group of startups in the 500 Startups Accelerator follows a lot of the same trends from previous participants, as McClure & Co. continue to bet big on female entrepreneurs and international startups. There’s also the continued focus on revenue-first startups, rather than those which need to hit “critical mass” before monetizing. But before I get into all that, check out this video . Seriously. Watch it. This story will still be here when you’re done:
Ok, so now that you’ve gotten your fill of 500 Startups’ hilarious take on the Hunger Games , let’s talk about the companies themselves. Of the 27 startups in the program, seven have at least one woman founder, and more than half of the startups are from outside Silicon Valley. Of those, 12 are from outside the U.S., hailing from locations such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Slovenia, and the U.K. Others come from U.S. cities that include Austin, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Putting investment in non-Valley startups isn’t the only somewhat contrarian move from this Silicon Valley-based incubator. The current class also has a bunch of startups focused on unpopular market segments like parenting and education, small- and medium-sized businesses, and subscription e-commerce. That’s because big wins on companies like Instagram are rare, and McClure’s not trying to hit a home run every time he comes up to the plate. Instead, he’s focused on singles and doubles. That means helping along startups that might not be sexy, but bring in revenue. So what do the participating startups get? As with previous classes, all 500 Startups Accelerator participants get investment of $25,000 to $250,000 in exchange for five percent of equity. They also get some swank office space, access to hundreds of mentors, help in marketing, business development, administrative stuff… And, of course, help with future fundraising. The Accelerator actually kicked off on April 2, so the program is already well underway, with demo days scheduled for July 17-18 in Mountain View, and July 23 in New York City. In the meantime, check out the next 27 companies to participate in this class:
ActivityHero – Yelp for kids activities
Bluefields – Intelligently organizing recreational sports
Bombfell – A monthly subscription service for men’s clothing
CardFlick – Create and share beautiful digital cards
Chalkable – An app store for school and a platform to make those apps work
Fontacto – Virtual phone system for entrepreneurs and SMBs in Mexico & Latin America
Groupiter – Adds group conversations to the files you share on Dropbox
Happy Inspector – An app to revolutionize inspections
Ingresse – Brazil’s first social ticketing company
Monogram – Flipboard for fashion
PocketOffice – An app to help grow your small business from your smartphone
PublikDemand – Helps consumers launch viral complaints against big companies
ReClipIt – Social catalog for coupon and deal lovers
Sqoot – Provides a daily deal API, like Twilio for local deals
Storypanda – Next-gen interactive iPad kids books
Teamly – Helps teams by stay focused, collaborate better, and celebrate their achievements
TeliportMe – Lets users create high-res panoramas anywhere
TenderTree – Helps families find a caregiver for the elderly or disabled
TieSociety – A try-before-you-buy subscription service for men’s neckwear
Timbuktu Labs – An iPad magazine for you and your children
TokyoOtakuMode – A place to share Japanese otaku culture, like manga and anime
Toshl – Super easy personal finance manager and bank data aggregator
TwitMusic – Helps musicians effectively share & promote their music on Twitter
UmbaBox – A monthly subscription service for discovering handmade women’s goods
Uscoop – A social commerce platform for young style influencers
Wanderable – Honeymoon registries for couples who want experiences
Yogome – Fun & educational games for kids aged 6-12 on the iPhone & iPad
