500 Startups has announced the 44 companies accepted into Batch 19 of its program — and five Canadian companies are among them.
While 500 Startups is well-known for its accelerator program, which in the past invested $50,000 in companies that had limited usage and sometimes lacked an MVP, 500 Startups announced that its accelerator program would now be referred to as its 500 Seed Program. The Seed Program will be focused on companies with early traction.
According to 500 Startups founder Dave McClure, most companies in the 500 Seed Program have a functional product, as well as user adoption and revenue. Many should have already raised less than $1 million in funding.
The 500 Seed Program, which will provide $150,000 USD in funding in exchange for six percent equity, will give startups access to 500 Startups’ Silicon Valley network, as well as support with its funding strategy.
The five Canadian companies include:
- ChangeJar (Ottawa,ON): A mobile cash platform optimized for small retail payments
- Homigo Home Services (Toronto, ON) — Concierge service for managing home maintenance
- Hykso (Montreal, QC) — Motion sensors for boxing and MMA
- InnerSpace (Toronto, ON) — A turnkey platform that provides instant indoor maps and accurate real-time positioning of people and things
- Ambience Data (Toronto, ON) — IoT software with zero footprint client infrastructure focusing on environmental monitoring.
TechCrunch has the full list of companies accepted into the program.