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Boulder-based Techstars announced today that it was buying the Seattle-based startup events nonprofit UP Global. Details of the deal have not been released, but UP Global will no longer operate as a nonprofit, and it will continue to operate all of their existing events as they were before the acquisition. UP Global employees and programs will move over to Techstars.
Techstars’ acquisition of UP Global allows the company to meet startups in their earliest stages, giving them a competitive edge in getting the most promising companies into their accelerator program.
UP Global runs events and publications like Startup Weekend, Startup Digest, Startup Week and Startup Next. Interestingly, the idea for UP Global’s signature event, Startup Weekend, apparently came out of a conversation at Techstars. Today, Startup Weekend happens about 1,000 times a year in 120 cities around the world.
Techstars runs accelerators in cities around the world, including Boulder, Austin and Chicago. About 550 companies have completed their accelerator program and they have collectively raised $1.3 billion in capital. Techstars has their own investment fund as well, worth more than $300 million. Several Chicago-based companies like GiveForward and inRentive have completed the Techstars program.
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