BC Business
GrowLab announced its Fall 2013 cohort earlier in September
Vancouver-based startup accelerator GrowLab announced Thursday that serial entrepreneur Jonathan Bixby will be the second to join its entrepreneur in residence program after signing on serial entrepreneur Mark Relph last Friday.
The seven startups that will join GrowLab’s Fall 2013 cohort, and its 23 alumni portfolio companies, will all have access to the two tech industry veterans to help them develop their sales models, scout funding leads and build their networks. GrowLab’s thrice annual acceleration program already connects early stage startup founders with a deep network of mentors and industry connections, which the new in-house entrepreneur program will only enhance, according to GrowLab executive director Mike Edwards. “We’ll provide a little extra bandwidth for the GrowLab team,” says Relph, who intends to help scout future talent and identify potential companies for cohorts down the road. Relph, who spent 15 years at Microsoft, most recently as senior director of VC business development, was drawn in by the opportunity to get involved in Canada’s startup scene. For Bixby, it’s an opportunity to get his hands dirty at what he calls “Canada’s preeminent accelerator,” in the local startup ecosystem that gave him his break. A Vancouver native, Bixby made his exit after selling his app services company Strangeloop Networks to Radware for $8.4-million last February. He hopes to help the next cohort with their sales models and business development.