[ibimage==32816==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]In the last five years, 116 social ventures from 41 countries have participated in a five-week accelerator offered by the Unreasonable Institute. Now, the organization is hoping to accommodate even more entrepreneurs.
The Unreasonable Institute recently announced its new five-day accelerator programs: Unreasonable Labs. The labs will support local, early-stage entrepreneurs whose ventures target social and environmental challenges. The first two labs are set to occur in Colorado in May: a Business Model Validation Lab and an Investment-Preparedness Lab.
“We’re trying to find the best entrepreneurs here in Colorado," said Banks Benitez, senior vice president of global expansion at the Unreasonable Institute. He added that Unreasonable Labs will accept 12-18 participants per lab and will attempt to filter early-stage startups in the Business Model Validation lab and somewhat later-stage — but still young — startups in the Investment-Preparedness Lab. Unreasonable Labs is accepting applications for the two Colorado labs until April 1.
The labs are partly funded by the participants, Benitez said, explaining that they will each pay about $335 for the five-day program, which includes meals, mentor meetings and more. The remainder of the budget is accounted for through donations, sponsorships and other funding. Though Unreasonable Labs will connect entrepreneurs with potential funders, Benitez said the Unreasonable Institute is not a possible investor itself.
Benitez said the labs operate in addition to the annual five-week programs that occur in Boulder, Mexico and East Africa.
Building the prototype
The labs, Benitez said, will also serve as a means for the Unreasonable Institute to test new markets for its five-week accelerator.
By the end of the year, labs will have occured in 10 markets around the world. About 150 teams from 60 countries applied to operate one of the initial 12 Unreasonable Labs. The number of applicants for those hoping to run the 10 remaining labs has been whittled down to 20. The 10 teams — and their countries — selected to run the labs will be announced within coming weeks, and the remaining 10 labs will occur between July and September.
Essentially, Unreasonable Labs acts as a soft launch for the five-week program.
"We needed to figure out how to scale well. We needed to de-risk the process of hiring and selecting an on-the-ground team to do it," Benitez said. "So, one of the best ways that someone can learn how to run an actual accelerator program is simply just to do it. There’s no substitute for experience."
Benitez said perhaps three or four of the labs will go extremely well, prompting the Unreasonable Institute to think about launching a five-week program in those markets.
“If it’s going to work on a full five-week scale, it first should be able to work on a five-day scale," he said.
The teams that are ultimately selected to operate the labs in their countries will be able to connect and share insight during the programs via an online network.
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