TechStars is an elite, mentorship-driven, start-up accelerator and seed fund.  Founded in 2006 and recently recognized as the number one accelerator program, the TechStars philosophy focuses on deep mentorship and surrounding a small number of companies with highly engaged members of the entrepreneurial ecosystem to coach and support them to success. The TechStars community currently includes more than 300 mentors, more than 1,000 investors, and 120 alumni TechStars companies. TechStars currently operates six programs each year: Boulder, Boston, Seattle, New York, and most recently, TechStars Cloud. TechStars is funded by more than 50 venture capital firms, and more than 25 angel investors. Companies that are accepted into the program get unequaled mentorship, $18K in funding, and amazing perks in exchange for 6% common/founders stock. Recently, TechStars announced an optional and additional $100K in funding to teams.