One month ago, the Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator held its second Demo Day featuring 10 startups, including three Boston-area companies. Techstars, which operates more than 40 startup accelerators worldwide, launched its new Portland-based program with the Roux Institute at Northeastern University in 2021.
Now, Northeastern University’s Roux Institute is discontinuing its Techstars program. Lars Perkins, managing director of the Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator, wrote on LinkedIn that there would not be a third Roux Institute Techstars program in Portland.
In a message to the program’s supporters, which Perkins shared with BostInno, he wrote that he was “disappointed” to see the program end.
“For two years it has been the most rewarding job I could imagine — working with new founders to help accelerate their companies’ growth and forge (or strengthen) their connection to Maine. Many of them consider it a ‘life-changing’ experience, with some characterizing it as the ‘best experience of their life,’” Perkins wrote.
Renata Nyul, Northeastern’s VP of communications, wrote in an email to BostInno that the university plans to focus on running its own entrepreneurial programs.
“Because of the rapid growth and success of the Roux Institute, we have built the capacity to scale this critical work in-house,” Nyul wrote.
These programs include launching the Roux Institute’s next Founder Residency for female and BIPOC founders, according to Nyul. Northeastern says this program supports first-time founders and founders from underrepresented groups. The yearlong program is held in-person in Portland and gives founders a $25,000 living stipend, programming, mentorship, joint research opportunities, a network of advisors, and a peer community to accelerate their growth.
The Roux Institute also plans to welcome 10 new companies as part of its Future of Healthcare Founder Residency and run eight Start Summits across the state to create “engaging, low-barrier entrepreneurship immersion opportunities,” Nyul said.
In its two cohorts, the Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator supported startups like Maine-based hey freya, a women’s wellness company, and Torque, a startup whose tools eliminate the need for direct DevOps intervention for day-to-day operations. Companies also came from across the world, from Los Angeles to Chile, to take part in the Portland program. Northeastern’s website said the program was intended to introduce startups to a potential talent pipeline of graduate students, attract investors and strengthen the region’s economy.
The accelerator previously said the startups in its first program raised more than $7 million and created 17 jobs in the state of Maine.
Perkins said he hopes to remain involved in building Maine’s startup ecosystem.
“Building the Portland tech ecosystem will be a marathon, not a sprint. I believe strongly in the Roux’s integration of entrepreneurship into their academic programs, and personally look forward to staying involved in whatever role we can to support their many other entrepreneurial initiatives,” Perkins said.
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