Equipping impact and growth-driven enterprises to achieve product-market fit and scale.
Thank you for your interest in the Watson Accelerator. We are excited to continue our work supporting sustainability leaders and impact-focused entrepreneurs, like you!
The application for the program will open soon.
Join our Waitlist here
This is A Fully Funded Fellowship
25 impact-driven entrepreneurs will be selected to join the Watson Accelerator as fully-funded fellows valued at $17,500.
The Watson Accelerator is a hybrid program designed for impact-driven entrepreneurs seeking to elevate their ventures with access to a global network, training designed to strengthen skills, and mentorship with seasoned professionals, venture capitalists, and enterprise executives. Through this 18-week program, fellows will engage in hands-on courses in areas such as leadership development and applying practical entrepreneurial skills to their ventures alongside a global community of like-minded changemakers.
The courses and program will kick off with a 3-week immersive in-person experience in Boulder, Colorado. The remaining virtual 15-weeks is designed to complement fellows’ existing venture work, allowing them to implement learnings from the program in real-time. This program is ideal for busy entrepreneurs with a time commitment between 5-8 hours per week.
Join our Waitlist here
Applications for the Fall 23 Venture Accelerator will launch March 1st.
What’s this fellowship all about?
Programmatic Features
- Pitch to a panel of judges for funding opportunities.
- Receive tailored mentorship from business leaders, venture capitalists, and enterprise executives.
- Engage in practical entrepreneurial & leadership centric courses.
- Join a global community of diverse entrepreneurs with a common goal to impact the world.
- Learn from a leader of a Nobel Peace Prize winning movement, founders, CEO’s, executives of Fortune 500 companies, and thought leaders from a range of sectors.
Accelerator Details
- The program will be in a hybrid format, with a 3-week immersive experience in-person in Boulder, Colorado, with the flexibility to remain virtual.
- The remaining 15-weeks of the program will be attended online, culminating in a virtual Summit with the potential to pitch to a live global audience.
- The weekly time commitment during the virtual 15-weeks will be 5-8 hours per week, which includes both synchronous and asynchronous programming.
1,500
paid part and full-time jobs created by alums.
$175 million
raised by Watson Institute’s 349 Scholars and alumni.
Watson Alumni are Making an Impact
Watson Institute’s 349 Scholars and alumni from 69 countries have raised over $175 million, created over 1,500 part or full-time jobs, and impacted 5 million people around the world through initiatives they help lead. Watson alumni have been selected to Y Combinator, the Echoing Green Fellowship and Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, and continued their education at Harvard University, New York University, and Princeton University, among others.
Mental Health
Tessa Zimmerman ’16, USA
Tessa is the Founder and Executive Director of ASSET Education. ASSET Education is a nonprofit organization that trains and equips educators in bite-sized tools to help students reduce their stress and anxiety. Since 2016, ASSET has grown to impact 40,000+ students weekly.
Poverty
Abhinav Khanal ’17, Nepal
Abhinav is the Co-Founder of Bean Voyage, a feminist nonprofit working to eradicate the gender gap in farming communities of Costa Rica by providing training to smallholder women in coffee production. Bean Voyage has supported 100 households and impacted 480 individuals.
Hunger
Richardo Rocha ’18, USA
Richardo is the CEO and Founder of Bondadosa. Bondadosa delivers healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate groceries to primarily Hispanic families across Denver. Bondadosa has fulfilled over 180,000 orders in 2020 alone, created over 70 jobs, and raised over $720,000.
Gender Equality
Claudine Migisha ‘20, Democratic Republic of Congo
Claudine is the Founder of Nguvu Ya Africa (Power of Africa) an organization committed to peace and sustainability by creatively breaking the cycle of trauma and economic crisis facing the marginalized girls and women living in Congo through arts and social enterprise.
Access to Education
Amani Simbayobewe ’21, Rwanda
Formerly a street kid during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Amani Founded Rukundo Foundation, which launched in 2017. Rukundo Foundation provides education to street children in Rwanda. Today, the foundation has 8 team members and works with 22 children.
Environmental Sustainability
Carolina Sapienza Bianchi ‘22, Portugal
Carolina is the CEO & Founder of Mudatuga a startup that transforms regular people into composting ninjas.They offer educational workshops and a compost bin made in Portugal from a composite of cork residues and recycled polymer. Mudatuga has implemented environmental education projects and taught composting methods to over 1,900 people.
What Fellows Can Expect to Receive from Watson’s World Class Experience
Leadership Development
- Management for impactful teams
- Transformative communication skills
- Root cause analysis
- Organizational culture
- Personal & professional growth
Entrepreneurial Skills
- Marketing & personal branding
- Finance & accounting for impact
- Human centered design & impact focused sales
- How to secure capital & funding
- Iterate business model validation
- Competitive analysis
Global Community
- Peer to peer support
- Access Watson Institute’s impressive global Alumni Network
- Mentors from across the globe
- Courses led by real time practitioners
- Ongoing support from Watson’s talented team
Application Process
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- Complete the online application: The online application contains 5 short essay questions and a 2-minute video. It is highly recommended that all applicants join an optional Application Support Webinar.
- Your application will be reviewed: Applications will be reviewed within 2-weeks of submission. Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. The final application deadline is June 1st. International applicants requiring visas are STRONGLY encouraged to submit their applications early.
- You will be invited to an interview: Applicants moving forward in the process will be invited to a 20-minute Zoom interview.
- Fellowship selection process: Applicants are considered for a variety of full-ride fellowships. Learn more about our prestigious fellowships.
- Enrollment process: If awarded a fellowship and a spot in the program, the admissions team will provide detailed next steps.
- Deposit and enrollment agreement: The last step to finalize enrollment is to pay a $250 deposit to secure the awarded fellowship and review and sign Watson’s memorandum of understanding (MOU).
