business

Calling all startups! Today's the last day to appy to HYPERDRIVE, SURGE Accelerator, Capital Innovators, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA), AccelerateBaltimore, and Flat6 Labs.

Yesterday we told you about Wavefront’s agreement with the British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) to offer the Venture Acceleration Program at its Accelerator Centre in Vancouver, Canada.

Now we hear the wireless business accelerator also has big plans for Ontario.

Microsoft is ready for round two in India, but this time it’s doubling down.

The company has just opened up applications for its Accelerator for Windows Azure program.

The software giant is looking for startups with a focus on cloud, internet or mobile. Starting March 1^st, the startups will work out of Microsoft’s downtown Bangalore offices for 4 months.

The deadline to apply for the program is January 15^th.

Wireless business accelerator Wavefront has signed an agreement with the British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) to offer the Venture Acceleration Program at its Accelerator Centre in Vancouver, Canada.

Internet Solutions (IS) Mozambique, a major internet service provider in the southern African country, announced in a press release that it will launch the “IS Business Incubator” in the country's capital on December 5. CLients for the new incubator will be chosen through a competition that will get underway in January.

Fourteen new mentors have signed up for AccelerateBaltimore’s 2013 program.

AccelerateBaltimore, an initiative of the Emerging Technology Center (ETC), launched in April of this year. They aim to close the gap between innovative ideas and getting to market by providing access to funding, resources, mentors, and potential partners.

AlphaStripe, a student-led startup supported by Arizona State University’s (ASU) successful Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative, has received an undisclosed angel funding round and additional support from MAC6, a new incubator based in Tempe.

The startups at Estonian accelerator GameFounders are preparing for their last two Demo Days.

Earlier this month the six startups -- from Argentina, Italy, Holland, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary -- pitched to investors in Tallinn, where the accelerator is based. That was followed by a second Demo Day at the Slush conference in Helsinki.

The Indian business giant Tata group has joined the corporate-sponsored incubator bandwagon. This week, one of it's subsidiaries, Tata Elxsi, launched incub@ate in Bangalore. Incub@te will focus on startups in the mobile apps, social media, cloud computing, and related spaces. Their website is pretty sparse on details which is perhaps understandable because they've just launched. 

An interesting announcement from Y Combinator this week. The accelerator has discontinued its Start Fund, which required VCs to automatically invest $150,000 into each startup admitted into the program.

Now startups will get an $80,000 investment and increased access to the VCs themselves.

Y Combinator says the reason behind this change is that $150,000 was way more than startups needed to get off the ground.

TopicLogic, a company supported by the SETsquared Partnership, has been announced as a winner at the nationwide Discovering Start-Ups 2012 competition. TopicLogic was one of five wireless entrepreneurs who were recognised by leading venture capitalists, angel investors and wireless industry experts at the awards.

88mph, an African seed investment fund and 3-month accelerator program, has just launched its second location in Cape Town, South Africa.

88mph began as a 48-hour investment bootcamp in 2010. Not long after they launched their first accelerator program in Nairobi, Kenya. Since then, 88mph has added 15 startups to its portfolio.

The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) is looking for a new President & CEO, a position that’s been vacant since David Monkman’s resignation in February 2012.

Monkman was appointed President & CEO in 2009, succeeding Dinah Adkins who was retiring after 21 years at the NBIA.

Tracy  Kitts has been Acting CEO for the last nine months.

Startup Canada, a grassroots non-profit network committed to promoting a vibrant entrepreneurial culture, today unveiled a three-part national Action Plan to drive economic development, job creation and innovation from coast to coast.

The plan is intended to make Canada one of the world’s top entrepreneurial economies, in which job creation and economic growth spring from innovative entrepreneurs powered by supportive local communities and financial networks.

WEtech Alliance, a tech accelerator based in Windsor-Essex, has joined the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN).

As a member of CDMN, WEtech Alliance will gain exposure for itself and its client companies in domestic and international markets. WEtech will also benefit from having access to services that allow the facility and its clients to leverage regional programming and best practices of other network members.