The latest demo day for New York’s Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator was a step forward, but more work lies ahead for the program and the city.
“A lot has changed since 2011 for all of New York tech,” said Jonathan Axelrod, a managing director with ERA.
He shared a few thoughts Tuesday at the start of demo day for the winter 2015 class. The 10 startups in the group—the accelerator’s eighth batch—included tech-heavy ideas such as API Fortress, which monitors errors in code, and Bunchcut, an image management and collaboration platform for businesses. (See slideshow for details on on 10 startups.)
With a look back at ERA’s beginnings in 2011, Axelrod said the program has evolved alongside New York as a tech hub. “Back then, Wall Street IPOs were things that companies from other places came to do in New York,” he said. “Now we’ve seen New York tech IPOs starting.”
When Brooklyn-based Etsy went public this month—raising more than $267 million—it sent a message about New York’s tech community. Coupled with last December’s $200 million OnDeck IPO, it added to a growing list of examples of the city’s tech legitimacy.
Obviously only a handful of startups will climb such heights; accelerators such as ERA try to give them a start on that path. ERA’s first class of graduates is expected to generate $30 million in revenue this year and employs more than 150 people, Axelrod said.
