Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator
Company type	Seed accelerator
Industry	Startup accelerator, Venture capital
Founded	January 2011; 15 years ago
Founder	Murat Aktihanoglu, Jonathan Axelrod, Charlie Kemper
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Area served	Startups worldwide
Key people	Justin Smithline, Nik Bonaddio, Andrew Stroup, Fred Wilson, David Pakman, Alan Chung
Products	Startup acceleration program, seed funding
Website	www.eranyc.com

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) is a seed accelerator based in the United States, established in January 2011 by Murat Aktihanoglu, Jonathan Axelrod, and Charlie Kemper. Located in New York City, ERA conducts two four-month accelerator cycles each year, commencing every January and June. Each group of selected startups is termed a "class," with those who complete the program referred to as "alumni."

Among ERA's portfolio are prominent startups like Parking Panda (an app for online parking), Cups (a mobile coffee ordering application), Select (a loyalty card for members), Squarefoot (a platform for commercial real estate), WebThriftStore, PublicStuff (an app for municipal service requests), numberFire (sports analytics), DogSpot (a pay-per-minute doghouse service), and Flourish Savings (a white-label banking application using gamification to encourage saving).

Since its founding, ERA has supported over 330 startups that have collectively secured upwards of US $2 billion in funding and reached a combined valuation exceeding $10 billion as of June 2024. Situated within New York City's dynamic startup environment—ranked second worldwide after Silicon Valley—ERA benefits from the city’s expanding role in venture capital investment.

Known as New York’s longest-standing and among its most effective accelerators, ERA has earned accolades from AlleyWatch and Forbes for its contributions to the local technology sector. Independent assessments have consistently ranked ERA within the top 20 seed accelerators across the United States from 2012 through 2015. In 2019, Crain's New York Business identified ERA as the most active venture capital firm in the New York metro area, with 27 investments totaling $47.2 million.

ERA’s operational model centers on accelerating early-stage startups by combining strategic guidance with investment to drive growth in competitive markets.

History

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) was launched in New York City in 2010 by Murat Aktihanoglu, an IT professional with Silicon Valley experience; Jonathan Axelrod, a serial entrepreneur known for founding MusicGremlin; and venture capitalist Charlie Kemper. The inaugural cohort began in summer 2011.

Qualification for program

For each semiannual cycle, ERA receives between 1,000 and 2,000 applications but selects only about 10 to 15 startups—approximately one percent acceptance rate. Unlike accelerators that focus on specific industries, ERA adopts a generalist approach targeting startups aligned with New York City’s key sectors: Internet technology, mobile technology, FinTech, SaaS, E-commerce, media, marketing, advertising, education, fashion tech, real estate, entertainment, HealthTech, and logistics. Startups do not need to be based in New York; for instance, Squarefoot originated in Houston prior to entering the NYC real estate market.

ERA emphasizes companies that serve or disrupt these core markets—including ventures challenging existing disruptors—such as CUPS competing against Starbucks or Dashride automating traditional taxi services in competition with Uber. The accelerator favors businesses with a significant information technology aspect, predominantly software-focused rather than hardware-driven.

The program is neutral regarding whether startups are B2B or B2C but excludes nonprofit organizations. Priority is given to ventures addressing urgent customer pain points—solutions that fulfill essential needs rather than optional enhancements—to maximize monetization opportunities.

Ideal candidates consist of founding teams of two to four members working full-time, with at least one founder demonstrating strong technical skills. Most participants are early-stage companies possessing initial products along with some customers or revenue that indicate market validation.

Applications must include pitch decks clearly outlining the problem being addressed, proposed solution, business model, market size and opportunity, technology platform, marketing and sales plans, competitive landscape, risks involved, scalability potential, team qualifications, milestones achieved, and references. Founders are expected to describe their business models using key performance indicators such as customer lifetime value (LTV), customer acquisition cost (CAC), and total addressable market (TAM).

Applicants must commit to temporarily relocating to ERA’s New York facility for the duration of the four-month program.

Description

ERA offers each accepted startup personalized guidance and mentorship from a network of more than 500 resident specialists, IT experts, and entrepreneurs within New York’s technology sector. Some mentors also participate as investors. The accelerator tailors its educational program to meet the unique requirements of each startup, addressing areas such as mobile payment solutions or intellectual property safeguards.

The program concludes with Demo Day, an event where startups present their ventures to an audience of approximately 700 prospective investors. Each presentation is accompanied by distinctive entrance music, making the occasion a blend of "Shark Tank" and a graduation ceremony. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Demo Days transitioned to a live-streamed online format.

ERA facilitates connections between startups and a broad network of angel investors, venture capitalists, and super angels. Additional perks offered include:

Complimentary office space throughout the program duration
More than $100,000 in cloud hosting credits from major providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud
Significant credits with smaller cloud services like IBM Cloud and DigitalOcean
$15,000 in credits with Stripe and $50,000 through PayPal’s Startup Blueprint initiative
Access to SendGrid’s Pro plan for email marketing and transactional messaging
Legal assistance from Dentons’ Venture Technology team
Financial and accounting support including discounted external accounting options
One year of free VoIP phone service, messaging, and video conferencing via Phone.com
Complimentary banking accounts and services provided by Silicon Valley Bank
Discounts on tools and services from Shutterstock, Zipcar, HubSpot, SalesforceIQ, RJMetrics, InVision, FreshDesk, and Zendesk

In exchange for an 8% equity stake through common stock ownership, ERA invests $100,000 in cash directly into each startup. The accelerator refrains from taking management or board roles within its portfolio companies.

Staffing

ERA assigns a multidisciplinary team of professionals to support each startup in its accelerator program. This includes on-site personnel such as Justin Smithline, founder of SoundCloud’s Instinctiv division, along with resident entrepreneurs like Nik Bonaddio, creator of numberFire—a platform specializing in sports data analytics.

Startups also gain access to mentors with expertise in IT development, product design, user interface (UI), and user experience (UX). Prominent mentors include Andrew Stroup, founder of ERA graduate company LVRG (an AI-powered vendor management platform); Fred Wilson, cofounder of Union Square Ventures; and David Pakman, internet entrepreneur and partner at Venrock.

Moreover, ERA connects startups with investment professionals like angel investor Alan Chung, who founded the Perka mobile loyalty platform.

Outcomes

Startup advocate Don Dodge highlights five essential benefits that startups typically pursue through accelerators: speeding up business growth, advancing product development, refining investor pitches, securing funding, and enhancing visibility among investors and media.

Business and product

ERA prioritizes fortifying startups’ business frameworks. Numerous alumni attribute rapid expansion to their participation in the program. For instance, Mariya Nurislamova, founder of Scentbird, described accelerating her learning process by a factor of six—condensing what might have taken two years into just three months. Early in the program, she experimented with various approaches before settling on a successful subscription-based business model guided by mentor recommendations. Likewise, ERA mentors assisted Chicory in generating revenue by implementing virtual slotting fees charged to food brands for placing products directly into online shopping carts.

Pitch

Jason E. Klein, CEO of the venture capital firm On Grid Ventures and Chair of New York's largest angel investing group, New York Angels, commended the quality of ERA Demo Day presentations as being "far superior to any others I had observed in NYC."

Founders who have graduated from ERA attribute the clarity and impact of their pitches to constructive critiques received from ERA’s accelerator mentors and fellow entrepreneurs.

Raising capital

Graduates of ERA have successfully attracted investments from a wide range of notable venture capital firms, including 500 Startups, Atlas Venture, Bessemer Venture Partners, Comcast Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Insight Partners, Lerer Ventures, Matrix Partners, NextView Ventures, Plug & Play Ventures, RRE Ventures, and True Ventures, among others.

For instance, The Wall Street Journal highlighted that Young Alfred, an AI-driven licensed digital insurance broker partnering with companies such as Progressive and Lemonade, secured $10 million soon after completing ERA’s winter 2018 cohort. Additionally, CNBC reported that Parking Panda raised in excess of $5 million with its initial investor connection facilitated through ERA.

ERA itself sometimes participates in follow-up funding rounds by investing further capital into its alumni companies.

Exposure

ERA startups benefit from their strategic location in New York City and the accelerator’s extensive media connections to gain substantial visibility. Alumni company WebThriftStore has been showcased in prominent NYC publications like Glamour, O: The Oprah Magazine, Business Insider, and NY Convergence. The New York Times featured Daivergent, a platform linking IT employers such as SAP with candidates on the autism spectrum. Forbes acknowledged PublicStuff’s founder Lily Liu for creating an "exceptional company" and ranked PublicStuff #85 on America's Most Promising Companies list in 2014. Fox Business interviewed With Clarity’s cofounders about their innovative 3D-printed wedding rings offered for at-home trials. Furthermore, CUPS (a mobile coffee application) was spotlighted by The New York Times while The Wall Street Journal profiled Appy Couple (a mobile wedding app).

The media coverage for ERA alumni extends beyond the NYC area. When PublicStuff expanded into the San Francisco Bay Area in 2013, the San Francisco Examiner described its iHelp app as "a tremendous success." The London-based Financial Times recognized With Clarity and Fund That Flip among the top 5% of independent companies in the Western Hemisphere by organic compound annual growth rate between 2015 and 2018.

Video segments include Forbes featuring Choosy cofounder Jessie Zeng and NBC interviewing the founders of Triplemint.

In 2019, six ERA alumni companies were listed on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing private U.S. businesses. Fund That Flip notably placed #42 with a remarkable 6,018% revenue increase over three years.

At least five ERA alumni founders have been honored on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, including Chicory cofounders Yuni Sameshima and Joey Petracca in the Retail & Ecommerce category for 2020.

Other

In 2021, ERA's portfolio company Katapult was taken public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) transaction, achieving a valuation of $1 billion. Katapult is currently listed on NASDAQ with the ticker symbol KPLT.

That same year, another ERA-backed firm, TripleLift, divested a majority ownership stake to Vista Equity Partners, which valued the business at $1.4 billion.

Prior to 2021, ERA had not produced any unicorns. Not every startup emerging from ERA has thrived; for instance, WebThriftStore shut down, and Consignd discontinued its operations. Nevertheless, Consignd’s founders collaborated with the creators of VocalizeLocal—an ERA 2013 graduate—to establish Casper Sleep, an e-commerce company valued at $400 million and recognized as a unicorn.

Regulatory

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) maintains registration with the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) via the Central Registration Depository (CRD). Additionally, it is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and various state securities regulators. ERA complies with the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 by submitting annual Form ADV filings following its fiscal year-end in December.

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