TechStars founder David Cohen posted an insightful blog post earlier this week that mentioned the impact second generation entrepreneurs are having on the current generation of first-time innovators. As Cohen points out, five companies from the 2007 Boulder TechStars class

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Over the weekend, startup accelerator TechStars announced a partnership with Startupbootcamp , a Copenhagen-based incubator and the very first member of a new global affiliate program hosted by TechStars. With programs in Boulder, Boston and Seattle, TechStars is now expanding and “open sourcing” their incubation model by providing guidance and support for independent international startup accelerators. A TechStars presence in Europe, in any way, shape or form, is a positive step for seed funding in Europe , which – as we’ve discussed earlier – is in dire need of growth. Sponsor Startupbootcamp is a three month program running from August through October where a select group of companies will fine-tune their ideas, develop prototypes and develop their business. At the end of October, the teams will present their products to a group of over 100 investors in hopes of securing further seed or Series A funding. TechStars founder David Cohen recently wrote a blog post announcing the partnership and noted the advantage foreign accelerators will have by utilizing the open methods of the U.S.-based TechStars. “TechStars can help affiliates to quickly build their mentor networks, teach best mentoring practices, and thereby also attract the region’s best entrepreneurs,” writes Cohen. “It’s great for investors because they see high-quality startups who have been well coached. And it’s great for the community because mentorship becomes more ingrained into the culture, which then attracts still more entrepreneurial talent.” Having an accelerator like TechStars bring its reputation and success overseas is a big step forward for the seed funding market in Europe. Traditionally, most venture firms in the area have focused their attention of proven business models and companies with some years of success behind them. Finding support for young first-time entrepreneurs has been significantly more difficult in Europe than in the U.S., which has caused many great minds to leave Europe to seek funding. “TechStars can help affiliates to quickly build their mentor networks, teach best mentoring practices, and thereby also attract the region’s best entrepreneurs.” – David Cohen Companies accepted to Startupbootcamp will be provided with 25,000 Danish kroner (which is a little over $4,300) per team member, as well as office space and access to over participating 50 mentors. All that the program requires of applicants is that they be dedicated, hard-working teams with innovative ideas and clear business models. Startupbootcamp does, however, require a 5% to 10% equity share in participating companies. With this new partnership, Startupbootcamp is helping to build the fence that will keep Europe’s talent at home. In the last few months, Europe has seen the creation of several new seed level initiatives, including Index Capital’s Index Seed , as well as the Berlin-based Team Europe Ventures . Hopefully with the TechStars name behind it, Startupbootcamp will help strengthen Europe’s startup talent pool. Discuss

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It was announced Tuesday that email management startup SendGrid had raised $5 million in Series A financing from a handful of prominent investors, including Foundry Group , Highway 12 Ventures , Dave McClure , David Cohen and Wordpress founder Matt Mullenweg . SendGrid, a graduate of last year’s summer TechStars program, launched last fall and raised some seed funding from many of the same investors on its way to sending nearly 1.2 billion emails for its over 4,000 clients. Sponsor SendGrid is a cloud-based service that helps companies, big and small, manage automatic transactional emails sent to its users while also providing analytics and delivery assurance. A demo plan gives companies 200 free emails per month, and after that monthly prices range from $10 for 10,000 emails, to $800 for 500,000 emails, along with a few other premium features. More interestingly, the company managed a solid Series A round after strong customer development and acquisition without the blitz of marketing tactics we see from a lot of young startups. Sure it’s important to spread the word about your product, but in other cases, letting your product speak for itself through customer referrals can play a large part of product growth. Ryan McIntyre of Foundry Group mentored Isaac Saldana, SendGrid’s co-founder and CEO, during the TechStars program last summer and spearheaded Foundry Group’s efforts to lead the investment round. Tuesday morning, McIntyre offered a look into the SendGrid investment , which he says fits with Foundry Group’s theme of protocol investments. “As we observed SendGrid’s rapid customer growth, which has occurred through word of mouth and without formal sales or marketing efforts, we made an offer to invest in SendGrid, and, thankfully, they accepted our offer to lead this round,” writes McIntyre. Being a graduate of TechStars has been an obvious benefit to SendGrid. Dave McClure and David Cohen have participated in both the seed and Series A rounds of financing, and some of the programs other graduates ( SnapABug and Next Big Sound ) are users of the service. Other more prominent companies have started using the service as well, including Plancast , HootSuite , Get Satisfaction , SlideShare and Foursquare , all helping to spread the word about the service. Not only is SendGrid providing an excellent service that many startups could take advantage of, but they also serve as an example to other early-stage companies out there looking for funding. First, they are a shining example of the opportunities that come from participating in startup incubators like TechStars, as some of their investors and customers have come from the program. And secondly, SendGrid’s focus on steady customer acquisition and development, instead of on viral marketing, is a valuable lesson. Last Friday we mentioned a book called The Referral Engine which helps companies focus their business strategies to drive customer referrals, and it seems SendGrid has done this well, growing their customer base without traditional marketing blasts. Discuss

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