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StartX Wins $800K Grant From Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation announced an $800,000 grant to StartX. StartX, formerly SSE Labs, was initially launched in 2010 by Stanford students to accelerate the development of student entrepreneurs through experiential education. Kauffman’s grant will help it scale its current services and build a model for replication, says StartX.

StartX is a non-profit organization affiliated with Stanford University. It takes no equity from its portfolio companies, and has received applications from more than 6 percent of the Stanford student population each year. To date, StartX has supported more than 240 founders and 90 companies in markets, including clean tech, biotechnology, enterprise, consumer internet/mobile, hardware, healthcare technology and social enterprise. In total, StartX companies have raised more than $70 million in funding.

Although StartX’s primary focus is founder education, 85 percent of StartX companies attract institutional and/or angel funding within three months of joining the program. More than 300 mentors and advisors work with the founders throughout the year. StartX corporate partners include the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Microsoft, Greylock Partners and AOL.

StartX, which operates year-round, supported more than 25 companies this summer, marking its largest session ever.

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