Health Wildcatters, the Dallas accelerator for health-related startups, has been named one of the top accelerators in the country by the Seed Accelerator Rankings Project for the second year in a row.
The project recognized 30 accelerators nationwide, and awarded Health Wildcatters a bronze ranking, the fifth of five possible rankings. Last year, Health Wildcatters was awarded a silver ranking, the third highest in what was then a three-tier ranking system.
“We’re excited to be listed in the Seed Accelerator rankings again this year,” said Hubert Zajicek, CEO, co-founder, and partner at Health Wildcatters. “We have always said it is more complicated to get startups going in health care. That is why it is even more critical to surround yourself with experts, mentors, and investors who can help set the direction of the company.”
“We have always said it is more complicated to get startups going in health care.”
Hubert Zajicek
Health Wildcatters’ formula helps startups deal with complicated issues in health care.
“FDA, HIPAA privacy laws, and the complicated sales cycles are difficult to navigate. Health Wildcatters continues to add to a network of resources that creates advantages for the accelerator graduates,” Zajicek said.
The Seed Accelerator Ranking Project is an independent, nonpartisan research organization that is run by academics from Rice University, University of Richmond, and the University of Southern California.
It collects data, analyzes it, and provides information on the success of accelerators in an attempt to help startups sort through the scores of entities that have started in the past five years and titled themselves as “accelerators.”
Health Wildcatters — founded in 2013 — is a mentor-driven seed accelerator that offers a 12-week program for health-focused startups in their early stages of funding. At its offices at 1910 Pacific Ave. in downtown Dallas, it provides access to advisers, mentors, office space, and strategic resources that startups will need to grow.
According to Forbes, the ranking project looks at 150 programs each year and surveys more than 1,000 graduates about their experiences in the accelerators. There are roughly 400 accelerator programs in the U.S., according to some estimates.
To be included in the rankings, accelerators must be fixed-term, cohort-based programs, have mentorship and educational components, and culminate in a public pitch or demo day — Health Wildcatters’ pitch competition will be Nov. 8 at the Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas.
Accelerators must have graduated at least one cohort and have more than 10 startup graduates, according to Forbes.
The ranking project said its list is aimed at encouraging a larger conversation and to promote research about seed accelerators, their effect, and the future of the national phenomenon.
The project said that confidential data on startup outcomes was provided directly by the accelerators themselves.
The evaluators looked at hard data on the accomplishments of accelerator startups, and surveyed the founders of the startups who graduated from the accelerators. Data was evaluated on such criteria as valuation, qualified exit, qualified fundraising, survival, and founder satisfaction.
Updated at 5:42 p.m., June 8, 2017
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