Techstars Appoints Maëlle Gavet as New CEO - Expansion Plans

This morning, Techstars, a prominent network of startup accelerators and a venture capital fund, revealed that Maëlle Gavet will be assuming the position of CEO. The company’s previous CEO and co-founder, David Brown, will continue to contribute as a member of Techstars’ board of directors, while the organization’s other co-founder, David Cohen, will transition into the role of chairman of the board.

TechCrunch had the opportunity to speak with Gavet today regarding her new appointment, the reasons behind the leadership transition, the company’s future expansion strategies, and her objectives in this new capacity.

Gavet shared that she was appointed to assist Techstars in its growth initiatives, and she highlighted her professional background at larger, internationally-based companies such as Compass and Booking.com.

TechCrunch inquired about the overall size of the startup landscape and the potential for further expansion for Techstars and similar organizations across various regions and specialized areas. Gavet explained that she posed the same question to Techstars during her recruitment process. She expressed her belief that significant untapped potential exists in overlooked talent pools and underfunded geographic locations, which could be unlocked through investment and guidance. Techstars intends to actively seek out and invest in founders from these areas. Update: The wording in this paragraph has been revised for improved clarity.

This suggests, presumably, an increase in the number of accelerators operating in more locations and supporting a greater number of founders.

Gavet informed TechCrunch that Techstars has already invested in over 2,300 companies and currently allocates capital to approximately 500 companies each year.

The newly appointed CEO articulated her conviction that it is feasible to deliver substantial returns to investors while simultaneously providing extensive support to entrepreneurs and generating a positive societal impact. Achieving all of these goals concurrently represents a significant undertaking, but success could lead to greater diversity within the tech entrepreneur community, a change that has been sought for a considerable time.

It is not uncommon for startups to change leadership to benefit from different and more extensive operational expertise. It is equally unsurprising to see an accelerator-and-investing firm, a “meta-startup,” make a similar decision.

TechCrunch frequently reports on accelerator programs, including those run by Techstars (with recent coverage available here) and Y Combinator, among others. Numerous successful tech companies have emerged from these accelerator programs, such as Airbnb (now a publicly traded company) from Michael Seibel’s Y Combinator, TalkDesk (valued at over $3 billion) from Christine Tsai’s 500 Startups, and Techstars’ own SendGrid (acquired by Twilio for $2 billion).

It will be noteworthy to observe the future direction of Techstars’ accelerator model – the organization occasionally collaborates with companies, or entities like the United States Air Force, to create and support specialized programs – in terms of both geographic location and specific areas of focus. However, if Techstars can effectively broaden the diversity of its founder base while simultaneously achieving financial success, it will demonstrate the potential for others in the industry to improve their own practices.