Entrepreneurs Roundtable Jumps Into Accelerator Game

It's going to be crowded summer in the New York start-up world. Entrepreneurs Roundtable, a four-year-old organization that hosts networking and pitch sessions for start-ups and investors, is starting a three-month accelerator program in New York this June, just like DreamIt Ventures and Techstars NY.

"It's going to be like the Adirondacks, but instead of summer camps, it's start-ups," says Charles Kemper, a managing at the ER Accelerator. "We're not just some guys who came in here and decided New York start-ups were hot. This is a local brand that can really leverage the support of the community."

Like Techstars NY, the ER Accelerator has a long list of industry notables signed on to mentor participating start-ups. Fred Wilson, Howard Morgan, Anil Dash and 137 other mentors will help coach start-ups from concept to execution. That's a ridiculous number of mentors! 

"Big names are great," says founder Murat Aktihanoglu, "but a lot of those guys don't have much time for companies outside their portfolio." In addition to the mentors, ER is bringing resident technologists who will help start-ups with everything from platform selection to server migration. 

In typical accelerator fashion, each start-up will receive $25,000 in seed funding in exchange for a small equity stake. Participating start-ups will also get free legal services, office space and even interns. At the end of the summer everyone will gather around to sing songs and promise to keep in touch until next year. 

It would be easy to end this post with a bubble joke, but for now all this activity in the ecosystem seems within reason. When The Observer starts seeing incubators for accelerators, then its time to worry. 

bpopper [at] observer.com |@benpopper