The Most Active Investors In Y Combinator, 500 Startups And Techstars Companies by Mikey Tom, PitchBook
Accelerators play a vital role in the startup ecosystems. Not only do they give entrepreneurs a place to learn and develop skills, they also can act as an investment filter for VCs. The pools of founders that are chosen to participate in a given program, and subsequently complete the rigorous course, are often seen as attractive investment opportunities for venture capital firms as they have been de-risked, to a point.
Just as some businesses and people like to work together, some VCs seem to gravitate toward certain accelerators. While there are a handful of possible reasons for this, ranging from alignment of industry focus to an appreciation of how a specific accelerator trains its classes, being knowledgeable about these relationships can help empower entrepreneurs who are looking to narrow down which program to apply to.
We took a look at data sourced from the PitchBook Platform and put together a data visualization to highlight these relationships; some interesting, actionable trends became apparant. For example, if a founder hopes to secure investment from SV Angel, they may want to prioritize Y Combinator vs. other programs.
Below we’ve laid out some of the more active investors in companies coming directly out of three of the most well-known accelerators—Y Combinator, 500 Startups and Techstars—and mapped the relationships.
(Note: Viewing on desktop is recommended for optimal quality)
