An individualized, strategic, and hands-on hybrid startup accelerator-venture studio and bespoke accelerator focused on helping launch and scale Gen Z-led, game-changing emerging technology startups.
NextUp is the first and only Generation Z-led-and-focused hybrid startup accelerator-venture studio and accelerator in the world, helping transformative startups that aim to advance industries and technologies in AI, Future of Work (FoW), Consumer, Sustainability, and Emerging Technology Infrastructure go to market or sustainably scale in their earliest days and investing in the most promising ones after they launch. We help upcelerate and invest in game-changing emerging technology startups through an individualized, strategic, and hands-on approach centered around providing strategic advice and expertise across Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy, product development, strategy, marketing, and raising capital. We have a focus on Gen Z and a sub-focus on non-Gen Z founders who we aim to assist in developing an effective market adoption strategy. NextUp's team is Gen Z-led and multi-generational, bringing together serial Gen Z entrepreneurs and investors as well as institutional operators and venture-backers.
Our Gen Z-led team of operators, investors, and advisors across every age bracket have over a century of combined experience in scaling startups in a variety of leadership and advisory roles, helping raise/invest hundreds of millions of dollars with a 10x+ return on investment and successfully growing or exiting over 20 companies as founders or VC’s. The NextUp Team has deep knowledge and expertise in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Middle East Markets and is able to assist companies in developing and refining GTM and growth plans with domestic and international focuses.
Our team will help bring your startup to the next level and get ready to raise capital through individualized strategic advice and hands-on services over a flexible time period, plug you into our large community of LvlUp NextUp startups and Portfolio Companies, and offer you up to $500,000 of perks.
Every company is different. We believe that the traditional startup accelerator model doesn’t work nearly as well as it can, because of the non-customized, funnel-like approach that it employs. We’re transforming the way that startups grow by providing an individualized, strategic, hands-on, and cohortless (the opportunity to grow is now open 24/7/365) approach to bringing your startup to market or scale and raising capital.
We consider investing in the most promising ventures which take part in NextUp, writing checks of up to $250,000 and aiming to bring value throughout the entire startup journey through our mentorship and connections. Following the scale, startups can pitch to LvlUp in a community day consisting of our fund team, PortCo’s, entrepreneurs, and others in the startup ecosystem with the goal of getting a pre-seed or seed investment.
We believe in all founders, particularly those that belong to Gen Z, with a vision and high-potential solutions that utilize emerging technology to change the way people live and work for the better, or provide the infrastructure for ventures to do so.
For the NextUp Pre-Launch Hybrid Accelerator-Venture Studio, we come in when these entrepreneurs have a Business Plan and Minimum Viable Product (MVP), but are yet to launch and raise their seed round.
For NextUp Scale, our individualized accelerator, we work with growing, early-stage companies that have launched and have $10,000 or less in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR). We act as an extension of your team by providing strategic advice and expertise to help you go-to-market and be well positioned to scale.
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The NextUp Mentor Circle connects Portfolio Companies (PortCo’s) with in-network and out-of-network mentors, aiming to achieve an excellent match between the startups which we help upcelerate and our mentors in terms of culture, experience, expertise, and connection value-add.
When a startup becomes a part of NextUp, we conduct a double-pronged search through our refined mentor community and leaders of highly similar, successful companies who we can virtually always recruit through our extensive networks. NextUp’s mentor community members are leaders in their industries with thousands of years of combined experience and dozens of exits/IPO’s. If we don’t find an exceptional fit for a startup within our mentor community, we will initiate and execute discovery for a mentor outside of our program who does.
All NextUp Mentor Circle Members are carefully chosen by LvlUp Ventures’ leadership team and incentivized to provide their expertise as a result of NextUp sharing a piece of its equity stake in the maximum of two PortCo’s which they support with them. Each NextUp PortCo receives NextUp-core-team-complementary strategic advice and hands-on support from one or two mentors in the NextUp Mentor Circle who will also assist in achieving KPIs and voluntarily make connections to potential partners and clients in their network.
We work with a few dozen companies per year. They love the results.
When we select a pre-launch startup for NextUp, we will help bring them to market and we share in their success with a 1-3% equity grant. For NextUp Scale, we receive a 0.5-1% equity grant.
NextUp is flexible in length, depending on a startup’s needs. It can be 12-Weeks, 8 months, or anything in between, all based on a customized, adjustable plan. We’re goal-oriented, not prediction-oriented.
LvlUp doesn’t take a weekly schedule approach to helping startups launch. Rather, it provides Strategy, GTM Strategy, Product Development, Product Management, Marketing, and fundraising expertise and strategic advice in an intentional, sequential order, providing one service at a time until the startup is ready for the next stage of development. We will work with you to help you develop a GTM and/or growth strategy and raise capital starting at any point at which your startup is ready during your time in NextUp or after.
NextUp is focused on upcelerating startups that are based in the United States, Canada, Israel, England, and France through our remote hybrid startup accelerator-venture studio and bespoke accelerator. Our team has deep expertise in the North American and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Markets, enabling us to assist ventures in developing and refining their GTM and growth strategies with emphasis in these areas. Leveraging our extensive experience creating successful companies in the United States and presence of our headquarters and team in the nation, we deliver support to help non-American startups launch, expand to, or grow in the country.
Trust is the core of our relationships. Balnce AI is building AI systems to democratize opportunity and help people thrive in the next economic wave. Their goal: help achieve greater security and balance in transactions so we can be a bit more human.
CrewLAB is the only system that is designed to 10x the impact of coaches and transform teams into vibrant digital communities. CrewLAB is a simple, purpose-built teamspace designed to make community a coach’s competitive edge. Through the platform, coaches can center their teams on positive athletic activity with a single, unified team hub, validate the hard work athletes do with likes and comments, and use engagement insights to identify their at-risk athletes. A testament to its growth, just a few days ago CrewLAB closed a partnership with USRowing to offer their services to all Rowing coaches across the United States.
Journo is an AI-powered social media platform that utilizes unique travel content to inspire and keep users organized in the planning of their next trip. It aims to enable people to elevate their travel planning experience by offering them the ability to browse recommended user-generated content or entering a destination directly, become inspired through unique travel experiences and ideas to fuel the planning of their trip, save travel content that leaves them feeling inspired for easy access once it’s time to create their Itinerary, and access and browse through your saved content to confirm that their trip planning is on track. Once users' research is complete, they generate Itinerary through their saved content using Journo's AI assistant or create their Itinerary manually.
People can access their Itinerary throughout the trip to stay organized and on track with their plans. They can also share their trip with friends through stories, posts, and the eventual publishing of their Itinerary (Passports).
MNLY analyses over 80 different data points and biometrics to curate supplement, lifestyle, and nutrition protocols with the goal of helping achieve optimal male health. It has been developed by peak performers, mens health practitioners, and neuroscientists.
Medalist is the first clean and natural skin and bodycare line for female athletes, by female athletes, custom by sport. Co-Founded by an experienced brand strategist and an Olympic Athlete, the venture will deliver more personalized products for women.
The ProLeague platform aims to bring a web3 infrastructure that provides gamers with a single, unified upgrade to the fragmented platforms they are using now. The Esports industry is currently very behind on tech to propel it forward. Currently, there is not a multi-sided platform that brings everyone together in one unified place (Brands, Developers, Content Creators, Tournament Organizers, Guilds, Teams, Orgs & Players). At the moment, gamers also need to use multiple sites to manage their careers. We are building an infrastructure to help gamers focus on what they love most ... The Games. ProLeague will provide the proper infrastructure to manage the biggest hurdles gamers face. By providing a web3 infrastructure for web2 and web3 games, we can help the entire industry maximize revenue streams. Our unique Players Association and Proof of Play Protocol will ensure that results and stats are verifiable and that the community can organize and weed out bad actors. Similarly, our blockchain technology will make it possible to guarantee prize payouts and to deliver them to winners quickly. All of this, along with direct on-platform tournament creation will allow us to build a sustainable ecosystem and provide a solid foundation for esports on a global level.
Studious is an AI personalization platform for studying that creates a flywheel for each user, leveraging cognitive science, gamification and LLMs, with an underlying study topic framework to improve success rates and reduce cost. Studious is currently growing at 25% MoM and is targeting the Workforce Learning and Higher Ed markets.
The founder, David, has tremendous brand building expertise having worked as the P&L owner of apparel lines in an e-commerce business, and in 2016 founded a ski apparel brand, which did 6-figure sales in its first year. He is also a veteran tutor and has an MBA from Wharton
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