Hub Ventures (www.hub-ventures.com), a startup accelerator for entrepreneurs building a better world, today announced an innovative collaboration with Lakeland Ventures Development (LVD) of Grosse Pointe, MI (www.lakelandventuresdevelopment.com). Their collaboration will identify and accelerate the growth of startups developing breakthrough products and services that save lives and improve human safety and wellbeing.

Through this collaboration, Hub Ventures will identify up to four human safety focused startups to participate in its upcoming Spring 2012 cohort, an intensive 12-week business accelerator program. Each startup will receive $20,000 in seed funding.  Upon completion of the Hub Ventures program, as many as four of these human safety startups will be eligible to receive an additional $75,000 each to further grow their businesses. LVD is providing the targeted investment capital and business development assistance.

“We are thrilled to work with LVD”, said Rick Moss, Hub Ventures Founding Director.   “Together we are applying a proven accelerator and investment model to fund and support entrepreneurs with businesses that save lives.”

Lakeland Ventures Development co-founder Scott Flood added: “In Hub Ventures we’ve found kindred spirits. We believe that new life- saving technologies are as likely to come from entrepreneur’s garages and kitchens as they are from labs and research centers at multinational corporations, and we are taking a position as their dedicated patrons. This collaboration exemplifies LVD’s approach to identifying, developing and investing in businesses focused on solving problems associated with human health and safety issues. We’re looking forward to a long and successful relationship with our friends at Hub Ventures.”

Hub Ventures provides funding and support to technology-powered and other scalable startups focused on a variety of impact areas including mobile technology for development, collaborative consumption, healthy food systems, off-grid energy, human health and safety, clean water, and civic engagement.  Last year’s Spring 2011 cohort featured 16 high-caliber startups including MobileWorks, a crowdsourcing platform that raises incomes for workers in India; Zamzee, a device that combats teen obesity by motivating them to be more active; and SpyGlass, a first-in-the-world wireless water quality monitoring platform.  Hub Ventures is now taking applications for its Spring 2012 cohort, and entrepreneurs can apply at hub-ventures.com/apply through March 5^th.

About Hub Ventures

Hub Ventures is a startup accelerator for entrepreneurs building a better world.  The program operates 12-week cohort cycles during which startups receive seed funding and engage in mentorship, peer collaboration, workshops, and speaker events relevant to impact-oriented startups, and investor connections.  Hub Ventures is based at the Hub Bay Area, a purpose-driven collaborative workspace with over 1,000 members in San Francisco and Berkeley and connected to 30 other locations through the global Hub network.  Hub Ventures is a member of the Global Accelerator Network, an alliance championed by TechStars and is partnered with Lakeland Ventures Development, Village Capital, Good Capital, and SOCAP.  For more information, please visit www.hub-ventures.com.

About Lakeland Ventures Development

LVD is an innovative new enterprise focused on identifying, developing, and investing in start-up and established companies working to solve problems associated with human health and safety issues. LVD is a privately held partnership making strategic investments independently and with corporate partners that value the firm’s domain focus and access to deal flow from its association network of start-up accelerators, venture capital and private equity firms, national and university labs, and the bankers and law firms that service the community.  For more  information, please visit www.lakelandventuresdevelopment.com.

Social Capital Markets

Social Capital Markets

SOCAP is a multi-platform organization dedicated to the flow of capital towards social good. Our event series connects innovators worldwide - investors, foundations, institutions and social entrepreneurs - to build a market at the intersection of money and meaning. SOCAP has received global recognition as a leader in the social capital space.

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