“a large cafe in the heart of Kendall Square, open early til very late, that is specifically designed to get members the innovation and entrepreneurship communities collaborating!” Rowe has assembled an amazing coalition of area innovators to help with the effort (disclosure: Xconomy is part of the effort).
—May: Spark Capital announces Start@Spark, a program offering seed-stage investments of up to $250,000 to promising early-stage startups in the New York and Boston areas.
—May: The Cambridge Innovation Center run by Xconomist Tim Rowe adds a new dimension: the Cambridge Coworking Center, a low-cost shared workspace for early-stage entrepreneurs and others. (The Kendall Square operation is similar to the previously existing Beta House in Central Square).
—June: Founder Collective, a new seed stage venture fund, reveals that it has raised $30 million. The firm was founded by Eric Paley, co-founder and former CEO of Brontes Technologies, and David Frankel, co-founder of The Internet Solution. It set up shop in Somerville.
—June: Governor Deval Patrick announces the creation of a $1 million annual business plan competition, the MassChallenge Venture Funds Competition. Run by a new Cambridge, MA, nonprofit called MassChallenge, the program is designed to attract more high-growth startups to the state.
—June: As part of the Mass Innovation challenge announcement, Xconomist Michael Greeley of Flybridge Capital Partners and Andy Ory, CEO of Acme Packet, commit to what Greeley calls the 12 by 12 by 12 by 12 by 12 program. They pledge to recruit 12 great successful CEOs to work with 12 VCs to mentor 12 promising young entrepreneurs to launch 12 new companies over the next 12 months.
—June: At XSITE (the Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship), Xconomist Vinit Nijhawan announces the launch of the Boston University Kindle Mentoring Program, designed to help BU faculty, students, and alumni facilitate early stage business formation.
—August: Betaspring, a new incubator in Providence, RI, unveils its first startup class.
—September: Polaris Venture Partners announces the creation of Dog Patch Lab Cambridge, a sister incubator and work space to its original Dog Patch Lab on San Francisco’s Pier 38.
—[Update, Oct. 5]—October: Trio from Atlas Venture and General Catalyst Partners form Tugg, Technology Underwriting Greater Good, a non-profit to foster youth entrepreneurship and social innovation.
