Techstars Boston's newest cohort delves into health care, deep tech

For the first time in five years, renowned accelerator Techstars Boston is hosting two cohorts in the same year.

Managing director Clement Cazalot said his team made the decision due to a significant rise in entrepreneurship in New England this year. According to PitchBook data analyzed by TechCrunch in October, the metro Boston area raised $4.34 billion in venture capital during the third quarter, putting it neck-and-neck with New York City as the No. 2 place to raise venture capital in the country as we close out 2020.

"New England is probably the No. 1-performing region of Techstars in the world in terms of alumni and scale and fundraising," Cazalot said. "We are seeing the strength of Techstars in this very close network with high trust and high engagement."

Techstars' value also relies on the strength of its network with cohorts in other cities. Right now, Techstars is running programs in Chicago and Denver, and the three concurrent accelerators are working more closely than ever in the coronavirus era. The ability to connect remotely has also brought in entrepreneurs and mentors from elsewhere, including Abu Dhabi, India and Singapore, Cazalot said.

In Boston, Techstars is doubling down on the verticals that Beantown excels in: health care, enterprise software, geospatial imaging, insurance technology (insurtech), and marketplaces.

"The No. 1 criterium is the ability for the founders to scale," Cazalot said. "We look less at what the business looks like than the founder fit and the subject matter expertise."

Read about the participating startups below. Descriptions and links provided by Techstars.