11-Jan-27 · 2-Nov-26
Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) was founded in 2011 by Murat Aktihanoglu and Jonathan Axelrod, evolving from the Entrepreneurs Roundtable non-profit Aktihanoglu started in 2007. It is New York City’s largest and longest-running technology accelerator and early-stage venture fund. ERA is industry-generalist, open to early-stage tech startups with a significant software or software-enabled component across B2B, B2C, fintech, e-commerce, SaaS, media, healthtech, climate tech, and more, from anywhere in the world provided they can leverage NYC as a launchpad. The highly selective programme invests $150,000 on a fixed 6% post-money SAFE per company, with a dedicated lead mentor from week one and access to a 500-1,000+ mentor network and ERA’s Expansion Funds for follow-on investment. The 4-month programme runs twice yearly, with cohorts starting in January and June. Since 2011, ERA has backed 375+ portfolio companies whose alumni have collectively raised over $2.5 billion in capital and now exceed $10 billion in combined market capitalization, including TripleLift, Rockerbox, Scentbird, and User Interviews. In 2026, Time magazine ranked ERA 16th on its list of America’s best incubators and accelerators.
Frequency
2x/year
Duration
4 months
Investment
$150,000 — post-money SAFE, with potential follow-on funding.
Equity
6% — post-money SAFE
Program fees
None — SAFE covers cost.
Where
USA
Sectors
Sector Agnostic
Stages
Pre-Seed, Seed
Eligibility
• Industry generalist — open to B2B, B2C, fintech, e-commerce, SaaS, media, healthtech, climate tech, and more
• Companies from anywhere in the world, provided they can leverage the NYC market as a launchpad; program runs in-person in NYC with only some remote-friendly programming (no virtual-only track)
• Must be, or be willing to convert to, a U.S. C Corporation
• Founding leadership must commit full-time; no part-time founders
• Technical co-founder strongly preferred, though not required
• Bias toward 2-4 person founding teams
• Highly selective: roughly 1% acceptance rate (10-15 companies admitted from 1,000-2,000+ applicants per cohort)
Selection process
• Selective review process (~1% acceptance rate)
• 10-15 companies admitted per cohort
• Each company matched with a dedicated lead mentor from week one
• Program culminates in Demo Day
Benefits
• Free co-working office space in NYC
• Sponsor credits and discounts: up to $250K Google Cloud, up to $250K Microsoft Azure, $25K AWS Activate, up to $120K IBM Cloud, $70K fee-free Stripe processing, $50K Segment, plus Plaid, OpenAI, MongoDB Atlas, Airtable, and Anthropic API credits
• Preferred pricing and bank bonuses through partners including Carta, Justworks, Deel, Thoropass, Rho, Mercury, Stifel, and Citizens Bank
• Founder Speaker Series, workshop series, CTO roundtables, and dedicated fundraising sessions
• Access to ERA’s Expansion Funds for follow-on investment support
• 375+ alumni founder network and deal-flow community, culminating in Demo Day
Notable alumni
Network
500-1,000+ mentor network of serial entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and industry experts. Runs ERA Global for international startups entering the US market. Sponsors and partners include Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Stripe, Lowenstein Sandler, Withum, and Justworks (platinum); Carta, Brex, SAP, Stifel, Thoropass, and Nasdaq Private Market (program); and university entrepreneurship centers at Columbia, Cornell, NYU Stern, and Princeton (community).
Portfolio
375+ portfolio companies since 2011 (330-400+ depending on count date), alumni have raised $2B+ in capital and collectively exceed $10B in market capitalization
Funds raised
$2.5B+ raised by alumni; $10B+ combined market cap
🕐 Sep 2026
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