With our newly expanded investment offering, ValueStream will now provide between $100,000 and $1.5 million in funding per portfolio company, to be deployed over two rounds of financing. This is truly a unique offering for an accelerator, and one that will be highly advantageous for both startups and investors, alike.

The Advantages for Companies

The ValueStream Development Lab works with and invests in early and growth stage technology and data companies in the Financial Services industry, commonly referred to as “FinTech”, as well as companies in other sectors that have an opportunity to create sizeable customer bases in the Financial Services industry. ValueStream provides portfolio companies with top-notch professional, enterprise and institutional customer development opportunities and product strategy feedback. In addition, Development Lab companies benefit from access to our co-investor, talent and PR networks, and preferred pricing on services including office space, legal, web hosting, and data feeds. Headquartered in New York City, the world’s finance capital, ValueStream is an opportunistic, geography agnostic accelerator and investor-working with only the most innovative FinTech and related companies around the country and the globe.

ValueStream’s fund is a highly strategic source of capital for startups. In fact, nearly all of ValueStream’s investors are either financial institutions or senior-level industry professionals in Financial Services. Our investor base and impressive network of advisors give startups access to a wide range of expertise and strong industry connections that would otherwise be out of reach for early-stage companies. We have repeatedly facilitated high-value synergies between our portfolio companies and our strategic investor and advisor base, which is why we call these investors our Triple Threat Investors - advisors, customers, and investors in one.

ValueStream’s program is unique in that it is customized for each portfolio company, making it a highly attractive option even among founders who wouldn’t normally consider participating in a traditional accelerator program. We accept new companies on a rolling basis throughout the year rather than in classes. The ValueStream Development Lab is a 100% independent, entrepreneur-focused accelerator program with no competing corporate interests.

The Advantages for Investors

There are numerous reasons for both individuals and institutions in the Financial Services industry to actively invest in FinTech (which you can read all about here), and we believe the ValueStream model provides structural advantages that benefit not only our portfolio companies, but also our investor base.

Whereas most accelerator programs spread their bets widely over companies from many industries, ValueStream places highly concentrated bets in a single industry-Financial Services. Anyone can invest in startups, but few firms can invest in a way that creates value for both the companies and investors synergistically, as partners in that value creation. We routinely demonstrate that the network effects of a focused, interconnected portfolio can provide a more substantial competitive advantage to each portfolio company.