We do not. Our mission involves supporting innovators and new ventures and—thanks to our partnership with the town and campus—we can focus on doing good not on making money.

No! Anyone can apply to the Fall and Spring Launch Chapel Hill accelerators—you do not have to have an affiliation with the town or campus .

* Summer accelerators focus on student teams with at least one UNC-student founder.

No, Launch is intentionally focused on leveraging our deep network and delivering highly tailored, hands-on support within a select set of high-impact sectors. We believe that by concentrating our efforts, we can provide unmatched value to the startups we work with—connecting founders to industry-leading experts, early customers, and strategic capital in their space. To ensure companies gain the maximum benefit from this program, they should be building within one of the following sectors:

• Quantum Computing 

• Semiconductors & Chips Innovation (Future of Computing) 

• Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Advanced AI Applications 

• Crypto and Digital Assets 

• Industry 4.0 and Automated Manufacturing 

• Humanoid Robotics (AI and Robotics Convergence) 

• Biotech and Life Sciences 

We prioritize ventures that have passed the ideation stage and that are at, or very near, the MVP (Minimum viable product), wireframe (for technology) or preliminary sales stage. Having completed significant customer discovery is essential.

Our sweet spot are early stage ventures who are past the idea phase and in product development or product release. You should already have a validated market and completed significant customer discovery when applying to the program.

Not sure if you meet these criteria? Reach out anytime to emil@launchchapelhill.com

We prioritize getting your company ready for investment, and the growth path often works differently for non-profit and not-for-profit ventures.

And the broader instruction, networking and access the accelerator provides can help in any case.

Let’s talk first if your venture is a non-profit or not-for-profit to ensure that we can provide you the support you’ll need.

Yes! All cohort members receive 1 year of free membership at the Innovate Carolina coworking space.

Membership includes a floating desk membership with theses amenities: free wi-fi, coffee, tea, printing, and reservable conference rooms.

We are offering a blend of resources, industry connections, and specialized knowledge to a diverse group of companies operating across a wide variety of sectors. Each company will receive an experience that is tailored with their specific needs and growth trajectory.

Most importantly, all cohort companies share access to KPMG’s deep industry knowledge and expansive client network to unlock high-impact pilot opportunities and connect startups with initial customers. This focus on early validation and traction allows participating companies to not only accelerate product development but also establish credibility and momentum in the market.

Exact times and dates may vary, but we anticipate the accelerator running for 5 weeks.

Nothing

We admit 8-10 teams into each cohort. Applications are very competitive.

We are finalizing details on the exact schedule. More details will be provided to accepted companies.

We rely on public parking around our 136 East Franklin Street location. Paid Public Parking can be found at 125 East Rosemary Street. You can also find plenty of info at Park on the Hill, and the next closest locations are the Wallace Deck, 140 East Rosemary and the Mallette Street lot behind Chipotle and the Graduate Hotel.

All Town of Chapel Hill lots use Park Mobile for payment (in addition to credit cards and small-denomination cash)

We look for great founders and teams who are working on solutions to real problems and creating meaningful innovations.

Our accelerator is rigorous, high-touch and high-impact, and with that rigor in mind, we strongly encourage lone-founders to try to assemble a team before applying.

The best things you can do to strengthen your application are:

* Round out your team with business, technical, and other necessary skills.

* Make progress on your prototype or product and reference it in the application.

* Show us you’ve really thought about your business and have gotten off your butt to do something about it : )

We cannot overstate the value of directly sharing your experiences with others, having that support and motivation—not to mention the random insights we exchange as we’re physically co-located.

We had some amazing all-virtual cohorts in the early covid years—and we realized in-person works better : )

What we do now: very strongly encourage as much in-person interaction as we can—with a Zoom option for most meetings.