Current Rock Accelerator Teams

adapptED co Jesse Whelan ’17 adapptED is an intelligent virtual tutor that targets specific learning challenges to improve learning. Think Siri for learning.

Aday Rahkeem Morris ’17 Aday is an innovative workforce management solution, designed to help you recruit, and enable cross-location and on-demand scheduling.

ATLAS Joe Zhou ’17 ATLAS provides proprietary insights for market participants and grid operators managing high levels of distributed solar.

C16 Shara Ticku ’17 C16 uses synthetic biology to create sustainable palm oil.

Camp K12 LIVE Anshul Bhagi ’17 Intelligent virtual classrooms: think ’Google Hangouts’ for education, but better.

Endorse.gg Brandon Freiberg ’18 & Joe Kiernan ’17 We connect brands looking to reach millennials with esports influencers looking for product sponsorships.

Finfox Team Armand Mignot ’17 & Dmitry Zhdankin ’17 Finfox automates cash reserve management and other treasury-related functions for small-to-medium businesses with AI-enabled software.

Frank Gorick Ng ’18 Frank is a personal professional e-mentor that uses 1-minute work tips to save companies time & money ramping up new employees and managers

GIVZ Andrew Forman ’17 & Aner Gelman ’17 GIVZ is revolutionizing the $30B online giving space by enabling instant, one-click donations to every charity in the world on one platform.

Headhuntr Andrew Rothaus ’18 & Gustavo Vaz ’18 Headhuntr is a recruiting platform based on friends' referrals. Our community makes hiring faster, less expensive, and more efficient.

HealthWiz Nate Maslak ’17 & Nate Fox ’17 HealthWiz helps midsize employers control healthcare spend by allowing employees to get better faster.

Exero Labs Ben Rizzo ’17 Developing and producing add-on devices for football and other helmets to reduce damaging impact forces to the brain.

Juva Therapy Stephanie Tong ’18 & Qian Qian Tang ’18 Juva Therapy is a patient-centric platform that effectively connects demand for mental health care with a fragmented supply of providers.

Keyturn Public Benefit Corporation Marc Howland ’18 Private B2B construction marketplace and management platform using a new contracting model that values people, reduces waste, and shares increased profits.

Kimono Metrics Vincent Vo, ’18 CapIQ for sales and marketing benchmark data. Learn how your competition or any F500 company go to market.

Layla’s Kitchen Ben Arnstein ’17 Healthy and high quality Indian inspired fast-casual restaurant for urban working professionals.

Lock.in Xavier de Gracia ’17 For small landlords who fear not receiving their monthly rent, Lock.in guarantees payments by bearing the risk of missed or late rent.

Lullaby Divya Agarwal ’18, Clara Chappaz ’18, & Jeremy Sasson ’18 Lullaby makes shopping for your baby more affordable and convenient with new and used rentals on high-ticket baby durables.

Magpie Damjan Korac ’17, Andrea Fantacone ’17, & Gerrit Orem ’17 Magpie is a new distributed checkout solution that provides retailers insight into the customer journey and reduces cart abandonment.

Moderator Laura Carpenter ’18 & Pierre Thys ’18 Moderator provides users with access to a diverse set of premium news publications for an affordable, bundled subscription price.

Noken Marc Escapa ’17 & Emily Brockway ’18 Noken is a modern tour operator, providing experience-oriented vacations for private groups, booked at once and guided by our app.

ONEE Michele Choi ’17, Alison Lyness ’17, & Aaron Whittemore ’17 ONEE is designing fashionable wearable tech to empower young women with more discreet & fun peer-to-peer communication for personal safety.

Phosify Andrea Coravos ’17, Brian Smith ’17, & Sofia Warner ’17 Phosify is a healthcare product discovery platform. We host non-clinical trials, powered by blockchain technologies.

SwitchIt Colin Dunne ’18 We find retail electricity customers the best deal and switch them to it, saving them the hassle and confusion of searching and switching

Veho Matthew Graham’ 17 & Itamur Zur ’17 Instead of having packages delivered by professional drivers in UPS/FedEx trucks our platform allows anyone with a car to do deliveries

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. Depending on the current stage, each team will be designated to one of two groups.
  • ID8 Phase - Teams who are building and testing their initial product. These teams are currently focused on validating their value proposition and achieving product market fit.
  • XLR8 Phase - Teams who have proven their value proposition, built and launched their MVP, and have demonstrated traction. These teams are focused on acquiring more customers and fundraising.
• 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 to the Investment Committee (Rock Venture Partners + Seasoned Investors + HBS Faculty + Rock Leadership) 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 an advisory board consisting of a Rock Venture Partner, Rock Leadership, and Rock Coaches (alumni entrepreneurs, industry advisers or subject matter experts)
• Early Access to Small Group Workshops - These workshops will focus on the hard skills needed to test, launch, and accelerate. They include designing and testing your MVP, knowing when to Hire a Lawyer, managing cash flow, , digital marketing, and more.
• Exposure - Teams demonstrating early traction will be selected to pitch at Demo Day.

ELIGIBILITY:

One or more students from HBS who are currently working on a venture and who are part of the founding team. To be eligible, teams must be at either the hypothesis validation or launch & iterate stage. Applicants must have completed significant customer discovery and research to validate their direction.

HOW TO APPLY:

Fall 2017 applicants, please plan to check back in July for the date of the September application deadline.

FAQS:

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.