ELIGIBILITY:

One or more EC students from HBS who are currently working on a venture and who are part of the founding team. To be eligible, teams must be actively building and testing a solution beyond customer discovery. Their current focus is building the MVP and are acquiring beta customers.

HOW TO APPLY:

The Rock Accelerator 2018-19 application window is now open for EC students. The deadline to submit your application for the program is Thursday, September 20 at 12 noon (EST). To preview the template which all the applicants are required to complete and submit along with their application, click here.

Applications are reviewed using this rubric.

Before an applicant register to submit their application with ReviewR, a third party website, they must read ReviewR’s Terms and conditions and Privacy Policy. When using this platform, a participant is agreeing to ReviewR’s Terms.

More ABOUt THE ROCK ACCELERATOR

The Rock Accelerator (RA) program is intended for HBS students who are serious about pursuing a business idea and are interested in taking it to the next level. This program offers a structured environment for you to build skills, receive feedback, and have the support you need to successfully progress through your entrepreneurial journey. Details include:

• Community of HBS Founders - A select number of startup teams with at least (1) HBS student will be selected for this highly rigorous and rewarding program. 
• Validate, Build, and Test - The RA program offers structured opportunities to students that allow them to make significant progress on their startup while in school. To be accepted, teams must be at the stage where they would like to test their business model assumptions and validate their value proposition or test their go-to-market strategy.
• Pitch Practice - The RA program offers extensive pitch practice. There are opportunities to pitch to investors and gain valuable feedback on your idea, business model, go-to-market strategy, and your overall pitch.
• Funding - Accepted teams may receive funding for their venture. Participants will have the opportunity to pitch for feedback and funding to validate their business model assumptions. Those who have already raised significant capital may not be eligible for the funding aspect of the program.
• Coaches and Champions - Teams will be assigned a group of Rock Coaches  (alumni entrepreneurs, industry advisers or subject matter experts) and tech experts. 
• Exposure- Teams demonstrating early traction will be selected to pitch at Demo Day.

FAQS:

How Rock Accelerator is connected with Rock Incubator program for ECs?

All the Rock Accelerator applicants (ECs only) will be either selected for Rock Accelerator or Rock Incubator program, depending on the decision made by the selection committee. The students selected for the Rock Incubator Program will receive a notification about selection and will have to respond with their confirmation by the given deadline.
The students interested in Rock Incubator (only ECs) must apply for Rock Accelerator 2018-19 before the deadline September 20, 2018 at 12 noon EST.

Not everyone on my team is from HBS. Can they still participate?

We expect all HBS team members to attend the mandatory events. Outside team members are also welcome and encouraged to attend, but it is not mandatory. There will be one designated HBS lead per team. It is up to the lead to spread the word about events and opportunities for their team.

Can I be part of both the Rock Accelerator and i-Lab VIP program?

Yes, we encourage you to also apply to the VIP program to take advantage of the additional opportunities, resources, and workspace. While there may be some overlap with the program elements, our Rock Accelerator offers funding and is designed specifically for HBS MBA students.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us: rockcenter@hbs.edu.

ROCK ACCELERATOR Teams

Spring 2018 

Aday Technologies
Robert Snyder ‘18
Rahkeem Morris ‘17
Giovanni Conserva Harvard SEAS
Aday allows hourly workers to schedule themselves - increasing their job satisfaction and reducing employers’ labor costs.

CozyKin
Jeremy Au ‘18
Tatyana Gubin MIT
CozyKin brings families together to share incredible childcare at home. Best for your baby, easiest for your family and 100% guaranteed.

Cozy Life
Lilian Chen ‘19
Spencer Fertig ‘19
Radu Cret ‘19
Bruno Marcolini ‘19
Cozy Life is a full-service, convenient, and easy-to-use online marketplace that changes the way secondhand furniture is bought and sold.

Joro
Sanchali Pal ‘18
Julien Barber MIT
Cressica Brazier MIT
Joro helps make sustainability a daily practice. With our app you can track and improve real-time emissions and share progress with friends.

Local Locker
Alexander Hartman ‘18
Peter Smyth ‘18
Local Locker turns unused commercial and retail space into low cost, convenient self-storage in the urban core.

MIPSync
Ali Evans ‘18
Caroline Dougherty ‘19
Ashley Shipley ‘19
Brian Yang HMS
MIPSync simplifies reporting and performance improvement to help physicians maximize reimbursement from value-based care programs.

Ripple Education
Adam Still ‘18
Richard Still
Ripple is an EdTech product that makes K-12 teachers more effective educators – it saves teachers time and improves outcomes for students

Fall 2017 

Abridge News
Laura Carpenter ‘18
Abridge News helps readers develop a balanced perspective on trending news stories by showing the most compelling opinions on all sides of a debate.

Alpha Vantage
Olivier Porte ‘18
Steve Z. ‘18
Cloud-based platform democratizing access to financial market data for software developers and investors.

Coverd Insurance
Christie Horvath ‘18
Insurance that doesn’t suck: a pay per use model for personal lines offering customized coverage, lower monthly premiums, and zero deductibles.

EmCasa
Gustavo Vaz ‘18
Lucas Cardozo
Gustavo Saiani
Real Estate Agency in Brazil that through innovative product, data-based advisory services and affordable commissions is transforming buying and selling homes into a fun and effortless experience.

Endorse
Brandon Freiberg ‘18
Eugene Chung
Esports influencer marketing. We connect brands to video game players for authentic product sponsorships.

Faktor
Doug Shultz ‘18
We are democratizing hardware development by streamlining and simplifying the product engineering and manufacturing process.

FastFloss
Todd Joseph ‘18
FastFloss is the comfortable, easy, and quick new way to floss all of your teeth at once.

Frank
Gorick Ng ’18
Frank helps undergrads more successfully navigate the internship / job search one step at a time.

FullFill
Vicente Fauro ‘18
Lyrisse Van Der Mescht
Mario Dominguez
Logistics services marketplace. We match merchandise owners and warehouses with empty space.

Lazy Bear Tea
Drew Fink ‘18
Erik Ornitz ‘18
Daniela Uribe
Lazy Bear makes teas from cascara, the dried fruit of the coffee cherry that are delicious, refreshing, and low in sugar.

Myos
Rich Horgan ‘18
Angela Lek
Myos is developing a new approach to cell therapy to treat muscular dystrophy. We will deliver and fuse healthy cells for muscle regeneration.

Nalagenetics
Levana Sani ‘18
Astrid Irwanto
Personalized prescription for better outcomes targeting drugs with long-term use. We offer genetic testing, clinical decision support, and patient engagement tools. Our first module will be for a breast cancer adjuvant therapy.

Trellis (Formerly BundleUP)
Aditi Kumar ‘18
Trellis (Formerly BundleUP) is a community for political discussion, information, and engagement. We replace the noise, vitriol, and misinformation in politics with productive, relevant conversations.

trey
Rebecca Feickert ‘18
Regan Rau ‘18
Timothy Erps ‘18
Ivana Roulhac
Brian Reynolds
Trey helps athletes use college sports as a springboard to lifetime success.

Waypoint
Varun Mani ‘18
Sara Remsen MIT IDM ‘17
Umar Arshad MIT Sloan ‘17
Rapidly scale knowledge by using AR to capture and distribute how frontline workers operate through spatially-aware holographic workflows.