A Tampa-based startup is the latest to join the prestigious Techstars accelerator family.
Defynance, a Tampa company that looks to revolutionize student loan refinancing through the use of income share agreements, will be one of 11 startups in the Techstars Boulder program. The company was founded in 2018 and is a member of innovation hub Embarc Collective.
Defynance is the latest from the Bay region to be tapped for a Techstars program. In 2020, marketing tech company Nickelytics was part of the Techstars Italy programming, which had to pivot to entirely remote as the novel coronavirus hit.
The Techstars Boulder program kicked off this week and will also be 100 percent virtual. Since launching in 2007, Techstars Boulder specifically has had over 150 companies graduate that have gone on to raise over $1.2 billion.
Due in part to the remote format, the program's 15th class will feature founders from across North America, Latin America and East Asia, with over half of the companies led by diverse founders from underrepresented backgrounds.
“Operating our program in a remote format is allowing us to work with extraordinary founders regardless of their locations,” Techstars Boulder Managing Director Andres Barreto wrote in a blog post. “We have founders participating in the program from across North America, Latin America, and East Asia. We are also excited that over half the companies are led by diverse founders from underrepresented backgrounds.”
Meet the 11 startups in Techstars Boulder’s latest class below [company descriptions provided by Techstars]:
AtomChat - Erick Holmann, CEO and Rene Mouynes, CTO
With more than $1M in annual recurring revenue, they're helping companies increase online sales by up to 5x using apps like Whatsapp and Messenger.
CodeInspector - Julien Delange, CEO
Their founder Julien Delange wrote the book on managing technical debt with MIT. They help software teams fix technical debt with their automated code review platform.
Defynance - Farrukh Siddiqui, CEO
Defynance Is on a mission to solve the 1.6 trillion dollar student debt crisis, refinancing student loans with debt-free income share agreements.
Floop - Melanie Kong, CEO and Christine Witcher, COO
Founded by two STEM school teachers, their platform enables instructors to provide relevant and timely feedback on students' assignments.
Gales - Rob Gregg, CEO
They're on a mission to help protect frontline healthcare workers with their innovative anti-microbial, waterproof, and slip-resistant footwear.
Haekka - Travis Good, CEO and Ryan Rich, CTO
After successfully selling their previous cybersecurity startup, founders Ryan and Travis are on a mission to provide industry-leading compliance and security training via Slack.
Immigo - Chelsea Jeon, CEO and Ryan Jeon, CTO
Their platform helps schools in countries like China and Korea source and staff the best native English teachers.
Inspire Me World - Alice Chan and Diana Chan
They deliver experience-led cultural immersion through subscription boxes and an online community for global fans.
Intelligems - Drew Marconi, CEO and Adam Kitain, CTO
They bring the power of experimentation to digital stores, helping them maximize revenue and conversion by A/B testing prices and promotions.
Porter Metrics - Juan José Bello, co-founder, Mateo Gómez, co-founder and Carlos Alexis Gómez, co-founder
With marketers spending hours compiling online campaign data, Porter has developed an automated solution for generating social media reports in minutes.
Terraseed - Hava Horowitz, co-founder and Maria Cebrian, co-founder
After exiting her first company, founder Maria teamed up with her co-founder Hava to create vegan and ethical supplements in the world's first fully compostable pill bottle.
