Techstars

Techstars is one of the world's largest pre-seed investors and accelerator networks, providing capital, mentorship and curriculum to early-stage founders through three-month programmes run in cities across the US, Europe and Asia. Companies receive up to $120,000 in funding alongside access to mentors, partners and alumni, with each cohort culminating in a Demo Day pitch to investors.

The London programme runs from East London and is part of Techstars' broader European footprint that also includes Berlin and Paris. Cohorts have shifted in recent years toward AI-native and B2B companies across fintech, healthtech, climate, edtech and insurance tech, with a stated emphasis on under-represented founders.

Techstars was founded in 2006 in Boulder, Colorado. The network has invested in more than 3,200 companies with a combined market cap above $79 billion, including 19 unicorns such as SendGrid, ClassPass and Chainalysis. The firm has over $850 million in assets under management and deploys roughly $130 million each year through its accelerator and seed programmes.