Accelerator

Northwestern Medicine & Techstars Healthcare Accelerator

Chicago, IL, United States

A Techstars corporate healthcare accelerator run with Northwestern Medicine.

The offer:
$220k per company
Location:
Chicago, IL, United States
Duration:
13 weeks

What you need to qualify

  • Early-stage healthcare startups.
  • The program invests in access to care, artificial intelligence, digital therapeutics, precision medicine and clinical operations.
  • It looks for companies enhancing patient experience, improving physician and nursing efficiency, and advancing the frontier in precision medicine, robotics and cybersecurity.
  • Accept the standard Techstars terms: $20,000 for 5 percent common stock plus a $200,000 uncapped MFN SAFE.

Eligibility

Eligible stages
All stages
Countries
Global, subject to the provider’s eligibility and approval

How to apply

  1. 1

    Create your Techstars founder profile

    Start at apply.techstars.com. The founder profile section asks for first name, last name, title, contact email, current location, LinkedIn URL, phone number and whether you are working on your startup full time.

  2. 2

    Complete the accelerator application

    One application covers every Techstars accelerator. It asks about the problem, the product, industries, team, traction, revenue and funding, business model, target audience, competitors, competitive advantage, timing, customer acquisition and next milestones. Techstars says it takes most teams one to four hours the first time, and you can keep updating sections before you submit.

  3. 3

    Record two videos and attach your deck

    The form asks for a product demo video, a pitch deck and a team introduction video. Techstars says the demo does not need to be polished, just show what you actually have.

  4. 4

    Select Northwestern Medicine & Techstars Healthcare Accelerator as a program choice

    You can choose several accelerators that are accepting applications at the time you apply. Techstars states that your application is submitted to the general Techstars pool as well as any specific program you choose.

  5. 5

    Interviews and screening committee

    Techstars staff review every submission and aim to review all applications within four weeks of applications closing. An interview invitation can arrive anytime between one and four weeks after the application deadline, followed by a second round and a virtual interview with the screening committee.

Frequently asked

Techstars invests $220,000: $20,000 through a post-money Convertible Equity Agreement for 5 percent of the company in common stock, plus a $200,000 uncapped MFN SAFE. Both convert when the company completes a priced round of at least $1 million, and the SAFE automatically adopts the most favorable terms of that round. Techstars accelerator programs in Asia-Pacific offer a $100,000 uncapped MFN SAFE instead. These terms took effect on 17 April 2025.

No. Techstars states there is no fee, meaning no monetary cost, to join a Techstars accelerator program.

Three months of intensive, mentorship-driven support, roughly 13 weeks, ending in a demo day.

Access to care, artificial intelligence, digital therapeutics, precision medicine and clinical operations. The program says it is looking for companies enhancing patient experience, improving physician and nursing efficiency, and advancing the frontier in precision medicine, robotics and cybersecurity.

Northwestern Medicine, which co-runs the program with Techstars. Techstars and Northwestern Medicine announced their 2026 class in March 2026.

The program page publishes no deadline and no applications timeline. Techstars runs two accelerator terms a year, with most programs starting together in the spring and in the autumn, so check the program page and apply.techstars.com for the current window.

Techstars says most teams need one to four hours to complete the application for the first time. It aims to review all applications within four weeks of applications closing, and an interview invitation can arrive one to four weeks after the deadline.
Healthcare

Related programs

We have not been able to confirm a deadline for this one. Check the official page before you start.

Do I qualify?

3 things decide this one. Check yourself against them before you spend time on the form.

Stage
Seed
Where it runs
United States. In person, so you need to be able to take part there
What you give up
5% equity for $220,000
Deadline
Not confirmed. Check the official page

That is the rulebook. What we cannot show you here is whether your startup clears it, how this ranks against the other programs you qualify for, and what to fix if you do not.

Check what I qualify for

Five questions, about a minute, no account needed.

Last verified against the official page. Report an error

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