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The startup process is messy and unpredictable—licensing intellectual property, producing a manufacture-ready prototype, lining up customers, raising money—all are critical and daunting. The Buerk Accelerator program aims to accelerate growth of early-stage, student-led companies through those decisive steps.
The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship helps develop startups coming out of student work through the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge, Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge, Dempsey Startup Competition, or UW’s entrepreneurship coursework.
The Accelerator program is solely for the benefit of the early-stage startups, and any funding comes from generous sponsors and donors. We do not take equity in the participating startup companies.
For more information visit the website at https://foster.uw.edu/centers/buerk-ctr-entrepreneurship/buerk-accelerator-program/
The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship helps develop startups coming out of student work through the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge, Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge, Dempsey Startup Competition, or UW’s entrepreneurship coursework.
The Accelerator program is solely for the benefit of the early-stage startups, and any funding comes from generous sponsors and donors. We do not take equity in the participating startup companies.
For more information visit the website at https://foster.uw.edu/centers/buerk-ctr-entrepreneurship/buerk-accelerator-program/
Accelerator companies receive:
Mentoring from a committee of entrepreneurs and investors
Guidance creating a list of measurable milestones
Workshops on a variety of topics relevant to the companies in the program (raising money, developing customers, strategic thinking/planning, business sustainability, etc.)
Access to a new fund to assist with early-stage expenses (up to $1,000 per startup team)
Connections to the Seattle entrepreneurial community
Demo Day at the end of the Accelerator to showcase startups to mentors and investors
If you’re serious about starting your company, and willing to devote the time and energy needed to get your startup off the ground, the Buerk Accelerator may be for you!
Guidance creating a list of measurable milestones
Workshops on a variety of topics relevant to the companies in the program (raising money, developing customers, strategic thinking/planning, business sustainability, etc.)
Access to a new fund to assist with early-stage expenses (up to $1,000 per startup team)
Connections to the Seattle entrepreneurial community
Demo Day at the end of the Accelerator to showcase startups to mentors and investors
If you’re serious about starting your company, and willing to devote the time and energy needed to get your startup off the ground, the Buerk Accelerator may be for you!
Application
2025 applications are due at 11:59pm on Tuesday, July 1.
To apply for the Accelerator program you will need to complete and submit:
1. The application form on this site.
2. A 12-15-slides pitch deck. The guidelines for what should be in your pitch deck can be found here under the question, “What should be in my investor pitch deck?”.
Include a slide explaining why your team would be a great fit for the program.
3. Your company's 5-7 page executive summary. Companies that participated in the Health Innovation, Environmental Innovation Challenges or the Dempsey Startup Competition should update their 5-7 page summaries from the competition to reflect their current status.
You can find examples of an executive summary on the Buerk Center’s website (click the "SUBMISSION RESOURCES" tab to reveal the summaries).
4. A draft of the 7-10 milestones you believe your company needs to achieve during the six-month program. Milestones are big, meaningful accomplishments (rather than a to-do list) that are both reasonable and measurable (meaning numbers, dates, dollar amounts, etc.).
To get a better idea of what milestones look like, check out these examples from past Accelerator companies
Click here to download the Milestone Template document. Use this template for submission.
Questions? Contact Yuko Oaku at yukooaku@uw.edu.
To apply for the Accelerator program you will need to complete and submit:
1. The application form on this site.
2. A 12-15-slides pitch deck. The guidelines for what should be in your pitch deck can be found here under the question, “What should be in my investor pitch deck?”.
Include a slide explaining why your team would be a great fit for the program.
3. Your company's 5-7 page executive summary. Companies that participated in the Health Innovation, Environmental Innovation Challenges or the Dempsey Startup Competition should update their 5-7 page summaries from the competition to reflect their current status.
You can find examples of an executive summary on the Buerk Center’s website (click the "SUBMISSION RESOURCES" tab to reveal the summaries).
4. A draft of the 7-10 milestones you believe your company needs to achieve during the six-month program. Milestones are big, meaningful accomplishments (rather than a to-do list) that are both reasonable and measurable (meaning numbers, dates, dollar amounts, etc.).
To get a better idea of what milestones look like, check out these examples from past Accelerator companies
Click here to download the Milestone Template document. Use this template for submission.
Questions? Contact Yuko Oaku at yukooaku@uw.edu.