​Most accelerators fund ideas. Techstars bets on founders — helping launch more than 20 unicorns, including Chainalysis, DigitalOcean, SendGrid, and Remitly, across 4,000+ investments with a combined portfolio value north of $120B. In Q2 2025, Techstars made Metal the default fundraising platform across their entire portfolio of 10,000+ founders — so we sat down with their Co-Founder and CEO, David Cohen, to talk about how they find and back outlier founders before anyone else will.

​Techstars is the global pre-seed investor and accelerator that has helped launch companies across more than 40 cities, and in this session, we focus on the questions that matter most:

• ​The Techstars Model — How a mentorship-driven accelerator became one of the most active early-stage investors in the world, and what that playbook looks like from the inside.

• ​What the Best Fundraises Have in Common — The patterns David has observed across 20+ unicorns and thousands of pre-seed rounds — how the founders who broke out thought about investor fit and timing, rather than just chasing anyone with a checkbook.

• ​Getting In Front of the Right Investors, Early — What Techstars looks for at the pre-seed stage, how founders can identify investors whose stage and thesis actually match their business, and how to avoid burning early calls on investors who were never going to lead.

​There'll be time for Q&A at the end. Most useful for early-stage founders preparing for their first institutional raise, and anyone curious about how the world's most active accelerators identify and back outlier companies.

​There'll be time for Q&A at the end. Most useful for early-stage founders preparing for their first institutional raise, and anyone curious about how the world's most active accelerators identify and back outlier companies.

​Speakers:

​David Cohen: David is the Co-Founder and CEO of Techstars. Since its founding in 2006, Techstars has invested in more than 4,000 startups and helped launch more than 20 unicorns, including Chainalysis, DigitalOcean, SendGrid, and Remitly. He is also the co-author of Do More Faster: Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup.