1776 (company)

1776

Type	Privately held company, Incorporation (business)
Industry	Business incubator
Founded	February 6, 2013
Founder	Donna Harris, Evan Burfield
Headquarters	1133 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20005
Services	Campus, News & Events, School, Accelerator
Website	www.1776dc.com

1776 Campus in Washington, D.C.

1776 is a business incubator in Washington, DC founded by Evan Burfield and Donna Harris. 1776 connects startups with resources in the Washington metropolitan area.^[1] Founded in February 2013, 1776 targets startups in regulated fields, such as education, energy, healthcare and government.^[2] The organization has four primary initiatives: 1776 Campus, News & Events, 1776 School and its Accelerator program. Membership is granted through an application process that selects startups with high growth potential that will be valuable members of the community. As of February 2014, 1776 has over 200 member companies.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has been a strong advocate of 1776. He helped secure real-estate for the 1776 Campus and provided $380,000 in grant funds for its activities.^[3][4] He has cited 1776 as a cornerstone of the city's Five-Year Economic Development strategy to develop the District of Columbia into "the largest technology center on the East Coast."^[5] A 2011 report funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce reports that some level of investment to business incubators can lead to job creation.^[6]

Fast Company ranked Washington, D.C. as No. 1 for startups per million residents in 2012.^[7]

Campus

The 1776 Campus opened in April 2013.^[8] The Campus is a physical space that houses approximately 200 startups, hosts D.C. events, and provides amenities such as classes, mentorship and a collaborative work environment to its members. The campus is open 24 hours a day, and members have different levels of access depending on the terms of their membership. At 1776, there are three different types of memberships available to startups: Reserved membership, Unreserved membership and Nights & Weekends membership.

Comcast, Microsoft and the District of Columbia serve as 'Founding Partners' of 1776. The first five startup companies of the 1776 Campus that joined as 'Founding Members' were Social Tables, Hinge, Tech Cocktail, TroopID and Bloompop. Other noteworthy members include transportation app RideScout,^[9] online textbook platform Flat World Knowledge,^[10] and mobile dating app Hinge.^[11] Prominent entrepreneurs that serve as mentors include former Priceline.com CTO Scott Case, Blackboard Co-founder Michael Chasen and HelloWallet executive Michael Yoch.

The most recent 1776 member to graduate from 1776 is Social Tables. While housed at the 1776 Campus, Social Tables grew from 7 staff members to 25 staff members. In January 2014, they moved off campus to private office space in Washington, D.C.^[12]

Washington, D.C.

Burfield and Harris chose Washington, D.C. for the home of their company due to its reputation as a government town, which they contend makes it one of "the most powerful cities in the world."^[13] The incubator focuses on companies who work within the regulated industries of education, energy, healthcare and smart cities, making D.C. a logical place to navigate that regulation.^[14]

D.C. has a burgeoning start up community. Business Insider named Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C./Va. number 6 on its list of the "20 Hottest Startup Hubs in America."^[15] The region ranks 5th on PricewaterhouseCoopers' nationwide list of most active regions for investment capital.^[16] NerdWallet named Washington, D.C. first on its list of "Best Cities for Female Entrepreneurs."^[17]

The District of Columbia provided 1776 with a $200,000 grant to support the Campus.^[18]

Startup Federation

1776 is part of an international network of business incubators called the Startup Federation. The network allows members of partner incubators to use the 1776 space on a limited basis while visiting Washington, D.C. as well as take part in some of the campus's events^[19][20] Current members include: General Assembly out of New York, Capital Factory in Austin, Tx., 1871 in Chicago, Cambridge Innovation Center in Boston, Warner Yard in London, Betahaus in Berlin, and Digital October in Moscow.^[21]

Events Venue

The campus hosts daily events for both members and DC residents. It also acts as an events venue for what it determines are "innovative" events. In February 2014, 1776 hosted Social Radar's, an app developed by Blackboard's Michael Chasen, launch party. InTheCapital called the event "one of DC Tech's biggest ever."^[22]

School

In partnership with entrepreneurial educational institution General Assembly, 1776 holds full-time immersive programs, long form courses, and classes and workshops in technology, business, and design at the 1776 Campus. The 1776 School was announced on September 9, 2013.^[23] Classes are held daily at the 1776 Campus by General Assembly in an effort to help startups gain traction in their respective marketplace. Classes cover a range of startup-related skills and disciplines, including law, marketing, data visualization, and web development.

General Assembly aims to meet current job market needs with its classes by interviewing industry hiring managers during its course design process. They look for what is most important in the job market at that time. Each instructor takes these into account, but is also an industry professional him or herself, so he or she uses personal tactics, experience and case studies in addition to the interviews.^[24]

News

1776 News publishes both curated and original content covering news in the startup world. Articles have been republished by national media sources, such as the Washington Post^[25]

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is an international competition to identify promising startups that are tackling global-scale challenges. Startups with the potential to provide solutions to global issues compete in regional competitions in 16 cities around the world from October 2013 through March 2014. Startup companies compete in one of four categories: Health, Education, Energy, and Smart cities.

The initial qualifying round takes place in 16 cities, eight in the United States and eight internationally. In the United States, Challenge Cup events are located in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Austin, Boston, Chicago, and Denver. Internationally, events are located in London, Berlin, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Cape Town, New Delhi, Beijing and Sao Paulo. The competition culminates with a week-long festival in Washington, D.C. from May 10, 2014 to May 17, 2014, where 64 winning startups from around the world — as well as corporate partners, investors, policymakers, and media – will be present for the final competitions.^[26] The District of Columbia has provided 1776 with $180,000 to help facilitate the competition.^[27]

The winners from regional rounds for different categories are as below:

The Challenge Festival's predecessor is DCWEEK, which had approximately 10,000 attendees at its last two events.^[29]

References

External links

• Official website