424 Capital

At 424 Capital, we believe in aligning our personal values with our investments. At the core of our ethos is the mission of using our resources to build companies that are making a positive difference in the world. We look for investments with order of magnitude opportunity, and support accelerated growth for companies on a mission. The strategies we develop and implement in partnership with our portfolio companies are designed to get them to their destination. In successfully counseling, coaching, and investing, we help our portfolio companies reach their full potential. Before making an investment, we begin working with founders and CEOs to identify the long game. Our dedicated team of professionals work with senior management to develop a comprehensive and research-driven Enterprise Value Creation Plan for sustainable growth that outlines a path to support the greatest exit valuation. We believe that sharing in the vision and establishing full transparency creates a mutually beneficial end goal for both partners. Our goal: to support our companies in creating a positive and lasting change in their fields and while delivering superior shareholder value. A company’s greatest assets are its people. That’s why we are driven to build exemplary company boards designed to help get our portfolio companies to their desired destination. We recruit independent directors with the highest level of market-specific experience and creativity. We invest in the success of our management teams by fostering their skills and talents to grow as managers. Once we make an investment, our Strategic Finance Group includes works with the management team to support financial planning and analysis; enabling enhanced forecasting, transparency, predictability, situational analysis, downside protection, and informed board-level decision making – as well as seamless integration of acquisitions. Additionally, our Deal Team will source, diligence, finance and close to 100% of our companies’ follow-on acquisitions – allowing management to stay focused on growing their business. We typically complete between 1-5 add-on acquisitions during our investment holding period. Our goal is to build value through utilizing our proprietary database of acquisition targets as well as deep market research to identify strategic opportunities.

MassChallenge

MassChallenge is the world's most startup-friendly accelerator & competition, and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs globally - with no strings attached. Benefits for startups include: • 4 month accelerator program. • World-class mentorship and training • $1.1M in Cash Awards. $10M+ in-kind support. • Free office space, access to funding, media and more. • Open to all. Any startup can enter, from anywhere, in any industry. • No equity taken. No restrictions applied. The ~617 startups supported in the 2010 - 2014 Accelerators have already raised over $706M in outside funding and created nearly 4,800 jobs. We received 3,040 applications from 58 countries and 41 states. The program is open to anyone in the world, with any new startup, in any industry. Every entrant receives training, feedback, PR and networking support via expert volunteers from partner organizations. Yearly, 128 of the highest-potential startups receive 4+ months of intensive mentorship and other free resources including office space and targeted introductions to customers and funding sources. The very best startups are identified by expert judges to receive cash awards toward launching their businesses along with enhanced PR and privileged access to top investors seeking to place seed capital to work in high-growth firms.