500 Startups today announced the launch of an incubator to support and fund early stage companies. Each company will get seed funding and access to mentors, in exchange for equity. The program lasts for 3-6 months depending on how long each company wants to stay.
500 Startups is willing to accept companies who have already raised funding from other investors. $1,000 per founder per month will be charged from each startup.
The list of first 11 companies to participate in the program include:
- InternMatch – “InternMatch’s mission is to help college students discover amazing internships.”
- Baydin – “Baydin’s mission is to facilitate purposeful communication.” (currently working on email trainer)
- 955 Dreams – Made nifty History of Jazz app
- YongoPal – Matches students in Asia who want to learn English from students at top universities in the US
- Spoondate – Dating for foodies
- Ninua – Made Networked Blogs
- Crowdrally – Wants to “provide social influencers with organic digital endorsements, so they can get paid without selling out.”
- Rewardli – “Rewardli lets business owners use leverage their social graph in new and interesting ways.”
- Wednesdays – “Stay in touch with friends and colleagues. Over lunch. On Wednesdays.”
- SpeakerGram – Book speaking engagements
- Punchd – Loyalty cards on your mobile phone