Opening doors to enterprise and industry customers: We’re here for startups

Startups

We are not an accelerator, nor do we think you need to be accelerated. We are founder-friendly (equity and fee-free) because we strive to work with multi-stage teams from Seed to Series C. Unlocking partner potential is what we do best supported by unparalleled relationships into leading global platforms, enterprises, venture capitalists, and industry experts.

Building relationships with the right network is a game changer and force multiplier. Our program focuses on helping you generate traction based your priorities and goals; not ours. Throughout our program we focus exclusively on opening the right doors, enabling success with our partners, and networking you through our ecosystem.

Since we launched our program in early 2020, we have had the privilege to work with 101 (and counting) globally based teams who have raised over $1 billion in pre-program venture funding and over $602 million in post-program venture funding. Combined, our alumni have raised over $1.6 billion, and growing.

Enterprise startups building disruptive technologies:

should apply here

 

 

THE 5G OI LAB PROGRAM
WHAT STARTUPS GET

what startups say about the 5g oi lab

Founder Stories

1 2 3 4 Next

Startup Alumni Directory

Venture Capital Ecosystem

Innovation requires investment. Through our venture capital program, we cultivate promising investment opportunities for our startups by facilitating introductions with our ecosystem of over 100 multi-stage co-investors (and growing) actively seeking enterprise deal flow. It's just one of the ways our collaborative approach helps startups succeed.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Program related FAQ’s

WHAT IS ENTERPRISE EDGE COMPUTING?

Edge computing is a distributed computing paradigm that brings computation and data storage closer to the location where it is needed to improve application latency and use bandwidth in the most economical way. Understanding the use case for a specific emerging technology is important because it will drive business decisions.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF 5G IN ENABLING ENTERPRISE EDGE COMPUTING?

5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. The new network technology will deliver faster download speeds, real-time responses, enhanced connectivity and supports cloud native application delivery. Edge computing, when enabled by 5G, will bridge the physical and digital worlds by connecting people, devices and data in new ways enabling networks to discern and adapt to change and ultimately deliver capabilities that make the network and business more intelligent. Our shared vision for remote surgery, precision agriculture, smart cities and autonomous everything will be realized, because of 5G connectivity and computing on the edge. Moving high volumes of data, at a faster speed, will require approaches to technology that enable real-time processing, and this will also fuel the need and adoption of edge computing

HOW DOES THE PROGRAM OPERATE?

The program is 100% virtual. Startups from anywhere in the world can apply. 

Lasting 12 weeks, the Spring program starts Mid-March and the Fall program starts Mid-September. Founders need to allocate approximately 3 hours per week to attend 1:1s, executive roundtables and respond to strategic introductions.

We are growing a global ecosystem. For startups wanting to fundraise from US investors through our VC network, formal presence here may be required (by the investor, not by the Lab). 

HOW IS THIS PROGRAM DIFFERENT THAN AN INCUBATOR OR ACCELERATOR?

Our program is more like portfolio management than it is like an incubator/accelerator. 

There are plenty of great accelerators out there, their approach is often high volume, provide the same content and is often stage specific. They host sprints, office-hours, AMAs, panels. 

Our program is about amplifying and extending startups existing product and BD efforts. It's about connecting startups to enterprise leaders to drive innovation for the entire ecosystem. We spend our time with founders making strategic introductions, hosting VP and executive roundtables to give founders corporate level market insights, and syndicating startups to more easily close their next round

HOW MUCH TIME WILL I NEED TO COMMIT TO THE PROGRAM?

The time commitment is based upon the goals that you want to achieve. We host a bi-weekly (30-minute call), two Executive Roundtables each week (one hour each), and a bi-weekly cohort meeting for 30 minutes. We recommend that you allocate three hours per week. We will work with you throughout the program depending on the outcomes that you want to achieve.

HOW ELSE WILL WE BENEFIT FROM THE PROGRAM?

We’ve been in your shoes. We know the challenges founders face every day. Our Lab connects you to unparalleled business-changing relationships with enterprise and industry leaders, and resources many startups wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

We put you in the driver's seat.  Our program revolves around your goals powered by:

  • Full access to our network of enterprise and industry leaders and fellow entrepreneurs
  • Specialized go-to-market engagements with our technology platform and industry partners
  • Introductions to over 100 venture partners
  • Expert industry insights
WHY WOULD A LATER STAGE COMPANY JOIN THE PROGRAM?

We work with companies in all stages of their development - our program is tailored to your specific growth. Series C companies elect the CTO and or CRO to be the lead contact with the focus of the engagement being about new customer introductions and product development.

We will consider solo founders who have a solid team around them.

HOW ARE STARTUPS CHOSEN TO BE A PART OF THE PROGRAM?

Startups are chosen based on their application. Once we have selected the final candidates, we will conduct 25 - 30 interviews that are attended by our internal team as well as our Partners. We meet with our Partners, review all candidates and make a selection based on overall feedback.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE PROGRAM ENDS?

We believe in a, "no divorce policy". Once you have participated in our program you are a lifetime member of our growing ecosystem. We will always be here when you need us.

Investment FAQ’s

DO I NEED TO PAY TO BE A PART OF THE PROGRAM?

No, we do not require startups to pay a fee or give up equity to be a part of the program.

DO ACCEPTED COMPANIES RECEIVE INVESTMENT FROM THE LAB?

No, we do not make an investment based on acceptance into The Lab. Admitted startups have access to our 90+ top and mid-tier VC and CVC network. We facilitate these introductions in both directions, many investors tell us which startups they'd like to meet. Investors in our network include Venrock, March Capital, Touchdown Ventures, Intel Capital, Dell Technologies Capital and Mayfield.

We will make an investment in select startups through our rolling fund. 

WHO ARE THE BACKERS OF THE PROGRAM?

Our Founding and Corporate Partners have funded the Lab and our programs. Technical and professional advice and discounted products and services are provided by our Technical and Business Partners, and all accepted companies have access credits from AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft for Startups (Azure).

Application FAQ’s 

WHAT CAN STARTUPS EXPECT IF THEY ARE ACCEPTED TO THE PROGRAM?

There are 3 core activities we support startups on:

  1. Product & Solution Deployment: Partner with our Founding and Corporate Partners on an interoperable platform to effectively scale your technology

  2. GTM Opportunities: Co-Create Go-to-Market Opportunities and Enterprise use cases with our Enterprise Partners, fellow batch companies and alumni network

  3. Round Syndication: Access our network of over 90+ Co-Investors that become your capital partners during scale

Each week we follow the following cadence:

  • Monday Bi-weekly Joe with Jim: all hands meeting for startups to hear Lab updates, get briefed on executive round tables, and solve common founder problems.
  • Bi-weekly 1:1s: founders meet with the Lab team to identify strategic introductions and solve pressing BD and technical challenges.
  • Executive Roundtables: hosted by VPs and up who provide insights on how startups can create use cases for what they're looking for.
  • Strategic Introductions: respond to emails to technical and executive BD teams for GTM with our Enterprise Partners.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN THE APPLICATION PROCESS?
We're looking for multi-stage companies (seed and up) to solve industry pain points leveraging 5G, edge compute, and enterprise transformation. We rate companies against the 3 domains of our thesis:
  1. Business Model: what part of the enterprise stack does your product serve? Iaas, Paas or Saas 
  2. Technology Type: how do your products/services leverage cellular and edge compute? E.g AI; autonomous everything; cyber security; distributed computing; enterprise XR; IoT; real time data; and robotics.
  3. Market Segments: are you service growth segments with the highest applicability for private cellular, edge compute and connectivity? E.g agriculture; energy and utilities; enterprise transformation; healthcare; manufacturing; transportation and logistics.
Beyond thesis alignment, we look at your team, how long you've been working together and known one another. We prefer teams that have a mix of technical and business founders with initial customer traction. We prefer founders that hire for diversity of background, skill and experience.
 

We also look for traction and customer engagement. Many startups focus indiscriminately on their product which can lead to solution bias where founders try and fit their product into an existing market need/problem, as opposed to designing it first from a genuine customer/industry problem. Traction can take the form of monthly reoccurring revenue, monthly active users and also take the form of committed pilot partners, commercial contracts or proof of concepts. Viable 5G use cases need customers to support profitable businesses.

WHAT KEY CHARACTERISTICS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN STARTUPS WHO ARE SELECTED TO THE PROGRAM?

We look at many characteristics when selecting a startup. We want a startup that will be able to collaborate with our Partners and go to market. The Lab wants startups that are passionate about innovation and building whats next. Startups that are focused and driven to create and build an ecosystem of innovators. We are visionaries that will take all aspects of your startup into consideration but ultimately, want to help you become successful.

WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE FOR THE APPLICATION PROCESS?

You can apply at any time as we accept applications on a rolling basis. To make the interviews or the Spring program, applications should be in by November 15 and for the Fall program they should be submitted on or before May 15.

We accept 12-15 companies per program with two programs per year (Spring and Fall). Each program lasts 12 weeks.

We accept companies at any stage. Because our program is purpose built for each startup, we accept all stage companies from seed and above. Timing is important, our program is best suited to startups who are already engaged with and built to meet enterprise demand.

WHEN WILL I BE NOTIFIED AFTER SUBMITTING THAT I AM MOVING FORWARD IN THE PROCESS?

For the Spring Program (starting Mid-March) we hold interviews in December, notifying applicants in late January.

For the Fall Program (starting Mid-September) we hold interviews in June, notifying applicants in late July.

CONTACT FOR OTHER QUESTIONS/COMMENTS?

Please email: [email protected]

HOW DO I APPLY?

Apply here

 

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