Techstars is launching a new accelerator in partnership with Northwestern Medicine in the hopes of finding the next great innovation in health care.
It's the pre-seed investor’s newest Chicago-based accelerator since David Cohen, who returned as Techstars CEO in May, stated the need to shift the firm’s focus to be “better for founders” as the firm became “overbuilt” in recent years.
Techstars cut its workforce by 17% in August.
“It’s not about as many deals and it’s not about quantity anymore — it’s about quality,” Brad Schnitzer, managing director of the Northwestern Medicine & Techstars Healthcare Accelerator told Chicago Inno.
Schnitzer said this accelerator will be a little different from previous programs in that it will comprise six companies — smaller than the 10 or 12 company programs Techstars has previously run.
Techstars now has more than 45 accelerator programs throughout the country, though it did shutter accelerator programs in cities including Seattle and Boulder in 2024.
Schnitzer expects Techstars to still have constant activity in Chicago with two programs running this fall, followed by the Northwestern Medicine & Techstars Healthcare Accelerator in the spring.
Applications for the accelerator opened on Monday.
Techstars invests in companies through both equity investments and an optional convertible note, investing as much as $120,000 for anywhere between a 6% to 9% equity stake in the business.
Schnitzer expects Northwestern Medicine & Techstars Healthcare Accelerator companies to range from those working on things such as digital therapeutics, patient experience, precision medicine, robotics and more.
Schnitzer said the program will be a great way for Northwestern's new Northwestern Medicine Mansueto Innovation Institute to get in at the ground floor and start innovating and working with pre-seed and seed stage companies
Sign up for the Business Journal’s free daily newsletter to receive the latest business news impacting Chicago.
