Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is officially launching an accelerator for early-stage startups.
Last fall, the Menlo Park firm ran a test session of a program it calls START. On Monday, it announced that it's going forward with the program and has begun accepting applications for its next group of startups.
"If founding a technology company is a dream of yours — even if you don't yet have a fully formed idea and haven't yet quit your day job — we want to hear from you," the company said in its announcement.
The START program is open to founders from around the world who are still in the early stages of building their companies, according to the announcement. The firm plans to accept into the program everyone from founders who are still crafting their product visions to those who are ready to scale already functioning services.
Through the program, Andreessen plans to introduce participants to the firm's network of other founders, industry experts and other companies, some of which may become customers. The firm, also known as a16z is also offering participants up to $1 million in funding in exchange for an ownership stake in their companies, according to the announcement.
A16z did not say how many startups it would accept into this year's program. Some 11 startups participated in last year's test version of the accelerator after more than 1,000 founders and startups applied.
Firm partners Bryan Kim and Anne Lee Skates are reportedly running START. They did not respond to a request for comment.
On Twitter, entrepreneurs from around the world reacted with excitement to the news.
"Processing the application for the a16z START program," said Oduetse Machete, a founder based in Botswana, via Twitter. "Feels like a 'right time, right place' kind of an opportunity."
Andreessen Horowitz may be aiming for something bigger than a simple accelerator program with START, David Zhou, a Bay Area-based venture scout and an employee at San Francisco-based accelerator On Deck, said on Twitter.
"I have no hard opinion on whether @a16z's new program is good or bad. It's too early to say," Zhou said a tweet. "But given their track record with disruption and thinking differently, I am quite curious what START is the launchpad for."
