Netrepid Establishes 'Virtual Incubator' To Accelerate Growth Of Innovative PA Startups

Netrepid announced today that it will be launching a virtual business incubator program starting January 1, 2014 as a way to help accelerate the growth of a thriving and innovative startup ecosystem throughout the state of Pennsylvania.

The Netrepid Virtual Incubator – located on the web at http://startup.netrepid.com/ - will enroll three innovative startups founded in Pennsylvania each month into a 12-month business consulting program while also providing technology platforms for each startup valued at up to $6,000 per year.

Beginning in January, a board of advisors with ties to PA's tech sector will review applications from startups interested in the program each month. Following the application period, selected startups will be asked to conduct a presentation for the board of advisors. At the completion of the presentations, two "early stage" startups and one startup with a minimum viable product (MVP) will be selected for enrollment into the program.
In following months, new and recurring applicants will be regularly reviewed, invited to present, and enrolled into the program in a similar manner.

"The state of Pennsylvania has a very innovative, talented ecosystem of entrepreneurs – but it's a 'best kept secret'," said Sam Coyl, President and CEO of Netrepid. "The goal of this program is to provide expert business advice along with the platform of Netrepid's technology to help accelerate the growth of this ecosystem."

Typical startup application and selection into the program will proceed as follows:

Interested startups will submit applications online at startup.netrepid.com

From the list of submitted startups, finalists will be selected by the board of advisors, notified, and invited to present a 15-minute presentation about their startup to the board.

Following the presentations, the board of advisors will decide which startups to pursue with a time period of 1 week made available for the advisors to follow up with questions and research.

Selected startups (2 "early stage", 1 with a minimum viable product) will invited for enrollment into the program.

Enrolled startups will then be provided with up to $500 per month in hosted technology solutions from Netrepid, a 1-year membership to the Technology Council of PA, and access to business mentoring provided by the Netrepid Virtual Incubator Board of Advisors.

The Board of Advisors for the Netrepid Virtual Incubator includes:

Dave Bonsick, President/CEO, TechQuest PA

Joe Chiarella, Founder/President, Colloid

Sam Coyl, President/CEO, Netrepid

Larry Dittman, President/CEO, Execustar

Linda Myers-Drei, Director Of Investor Relations, Technology Council of PA

Pam Martin, Executive Director, Ben Franklin Incubation Network At Carlisle

Melissa McLaughlin, Director Of Business Finance, Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC

Chuck Russell, Senior Partner, Collective Intelligence

Applications are now being accepted for January 2014 enrollment online at http://startup.netrepid.com/application/.

For more information on the Netrepid Virtual Incubator or to get pricing on data center solutions from Netrepid, please visit netrepid.com.

About Netrepid
Netrepid provides enterprise-class colocation, managed services, web and application hosting solutions to a large variety of industries from its privately owned data center located in Harrisburg, PA. Since being founded in 2004, Netrepid has also positioned itself as a key partner to many other technology services and solutions providers. Rather than becoming a vendor or a partner, Netrepid creates a relationship that allows them to become part of their clients' team. This strong relationship based culture enables Netrepid to provide quality advice, support, and direction to their clients as they match technology to their business.

To learn more about Netrepid, call 717.730.0780, visit netrepid.com or circle the company on Google+ at +Netrepid.