Techstars London Welcomes “Most Diverse” Startup Cohort In Its History

Startup accelerator platform, Techstars London, has welcomed its “most diverse” cohort group in its history. This year’s program includes early-stage startups from across the globe and a large majority of women and minority founders. 

The Most Diverse Cohort 

Techstars London is a worldwide startup accelerator platform that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Their three-month programs provide members with skills to increase their capital, access mentorship and connect with like-minded peers. 

The early-stage startups in this year’s cohort originate from several countries across the globe, including Nigeria, Malaysia, Denmark, and the US. Techstar’s team selected each country as a part of its broader mission to grow and expand its services to reach businesses worldwide.  

According to the platform, this year’s cohort is “the most” diverse in the company’s history. A large majority of the group (96%) are either women, people of color, or from immigrant backgrounds. Additionally, 15% of this year’s cohort founders are Black. 

Although this year’s accelerator program received more than 1000 applicants, Techstar offered only 12 spots to finalists after over 400 interviews. 

Each business will undergo an intense training program to build the necessary skills to scale quickly beyond its Series A. Each founder will receive special one-to-one coaching and customized training programs to kickstart their growth. 

The program, which is designed to assist founders on their entrepreneurial journey, has the overall goal of helping entrepreneurs succeed. Across three months, Techstar will welcome founders into an exclusive network of mentors, corporate partners, investors, and alums. 

An experienced team of experts will also guide Techstars’ program while providing workshops and curated resources tailored to help each founder’s needs.   

“Growing a business at any time is hard. Throw in a bout of economic turmoil and increased uncertainty, and founders starting up are presented with an increasingly difficult task,” said Saalim Chowdhury, Managing Director at Techstars.  

“We know that outlier founders drive outlier performance. Overwhelmingly most of our founders have overcome many social challenges and adversity to get to where they are. Their above-average level of determination, tenacity, and intellect is why we’ve chosen them.” 

Meet the new cohort

• Kitchenswaps – a marketplace for commercial kitchen space, matching kitchen owners with food businesses
• Boxxdocks – a sustainable shipping startup, giving companies full control and flexibility over their logistics operations
• Fyyne – a marketplace for beauty services and products
• Kestrl – an app helping Muslims to budget, save and invest in line with their values. 
• Matutto – a platform for expats to meet people, find information and prepare for relocation
• Re-Style – a marketplace for tailoring, alterations and repairs
• Verve – helping distributed companies keep their cultures thriving with better data-driven company understanding
• Harp Health – an end-to-end virtual care solution, offering women personalised specialist health care
• Motics – brings physiotherapy into the digital era through wearable technology and gamification
• Zephframe – a smart building energy management software that dynamically adjusts heating and cooling systems
• Don’t Shop Swap – a gamified clothes swapping platform for Gen Z
• Gravel AI – provides AI analytics and insights for chemical manufacturers at ingredient level