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MassChallenge is a startup accelerator. It claims to be the world's biggest and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strings attached.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://masschallenge.org/accelerator/overview )〕 Its objectives are to promote innovation, collaboration and commercialization, address the seed-stage investment gap, empower novice entrepreneurs and provide educational opportunities for entrepreneurs. The nonprofit organization〔 selects 128 startup companies annually to participate in its four-month accelerator program, which provides entrepreneurs access to expert mentors, marketing and media resources, funding opportunities and free office space in Boston. Following the four-month accelerator period, MassChallenge awards $1 million in grants to the program’s top companies.〔 MassChallenge accepts startups from all industries and has the resources to provide startups from "any industry, anywhere in the world" with tremendous value.〔 However, all of the startups must be "early-stage", meaning that they have received up to but no more than $500,000 of equity based funding and haven't generated more than $1 million in revenue. The MassChallenge accelerator program is designed to provide entrepreneurs with a range of strategic and tactical insights, covering everything from sales to hiring and legal to financing. As a nonprofit, MassChallenge does not take any equity in the companies or place any restrictions on the entrepreneurs.〔 The organization's funding comes primarily from sponsorships from large corporations including Fidelity Investments, Verizon, Oracle, AmericanAirlines and Microsoft, and from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://masschallenge.org/partnerships/2012 )〕 ==History== Launched in April 2010, MassChallenge began in earnest in May 2009 when co-founders John Harthorne and Akhil Nigam quit their jobs as consultants at Bain & Company to pursue their idea for a startup competition. In the midst of financial crisis, the two decided that their talents would be better served by helping entrepreneurs than by advising big multinationals.〔 MassChallenge garnered early support from successful entrepreneurs, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and large corporations. The earliest supporters of MassChallenge included Desh Deshpande, founder of Sycamore Networks, Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston, Greg Bialecki, the Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, The Blackstone Charitable Foundation, Microsoft and Joe Fallon, a local real estate developer who donated the fourteenth floor of ONE Marina Park Drive,〔 However, the MassChallenge offices recently relocated to the 21 DryDock Avenue in Boston's Design Center. The space is 26,000 sq. ft. taking up a large portion of the 6th floor and was donated courtesy of Jamestown, a real estate investment firm. The organization originally attracted applications from 446 startups for its first program in 2010, selecting 111 companies to join the accelerator. The number of applications grew to 733 for the 2011 accelerator〔 and to 1,237 for the 2012 accelerator. Approximately 10% of applicants were accepted to the 2012 program.〔 In 2013, MassChallenge increased the number of accepted startups to 128, in tribute to Route 128, a number that was repeated in 2014 (picked from ''over'' 1700 entries). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MassChallenge」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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