If you happened to watch President Obama’s State of the Union address last week, there were a few issues that clearly stood out. Innovation and job creation were at the heart of his address, to which he made note of Facebook and Google’s rapid growth. He went on to discuss the importance of teachers and, lastly, Salmon. Little did we know that as we were watching the State of the Union, the folks over at MassChallenge were solidifying a partnership with the White House itself.
The “Startup America Partnership” kicks off today at the White House, in part of a week long series of events aimed at encouraging investments by U.S. businesses in small firms. Company pledges to the partnership include leading corporations like Facebook, Intel, HP, and IBM who vow to increase their investment in startup companies.
Alongside these prominent corporations in the Startup American Partnership are foundations and non-profit organizations, namely MassChallenge, TechStars, Deshpande Foundation, Kauffman Foundation, NCIIA, and The Case Foundation. And within the next hour, these organizations will be recognized as America’s most impactful organizations at the White House. We will be live tweeting from the MassChallenge office during the announcement.
Startup America Partnerhip’s core goals are to: increase the number of new high-growth firms that are creating economic growth, innovation, and quality jobs; celebrate and honor entrepreneurship as a core American value and source of competitive advantage; and inspire and empower an ever-greater diversity of communities and individuals to build great
American companies.
As the world’s largest global startup competition and accelerator program, MassChallenge will be engaged in a coordinated effort that brings together an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs, organizations, universities, and other leaders, working in concert with a wide range of federal agencies to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of American entrepreneurs.
“MassChallenge is an efficient and effective model for helping entrepreneurs succeed, and is an ideal means for America to harness and showcase the expertise and collaborative strength of our universities, investors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and businesses — after all, we’ve been providing revolutionary ideas since 1776,” said John Harthorne, Founder & CEO of MassChallenge.
Today at 11 am, Startup America Partnership Chair, Steve Case will kick off the event at the white house, and you will want watch a livestream of the event here. To learn more about the MassChallenge history and story, check out our three part series getting to the heart of the organization here, here, and here.
Make sure to congratulate MassChallenge for an incredible year and their National recognition today.
The 2011 MassChallenge competition will officially launch on March 8, with the deadline for applications ending April 11. Every entrant receives training, feedback, PR and networking support via experts, and the highest-potential startups receive 3 months of intensive mentorship and free services in 22,000 sq ft of premium office space. The 2011 accelerator phase will take place from July through September and winners will be announced on October 20. The competition is open to anyone in the world, with any startup, in any industry. MassChallenge is designed to identify, strengthen and facilitate funding for the world’s highest impact startups. Engagement in the Startup America Partnership will enable MassChallenge to provide even greater access to key resources, information and people.
