Expert Dojo Accelerator

Expert Dojo is one of our partners and investors we work with and we thought that it will make sense to have a quick introduction to help our startups with a compiled information about this great accelerator in Santa Monica.

About Expert Dojo

Expert Dojo is one of the most active early-stage accelerators in California. They invest $100,000 in each of their portfolio companies and help them accelerate their way to the international markets.

Since 2018, they have invested in more than 100 visionary startups, all of which aim to become a unicorn. A mission that Expert Dojo’s accelerator programs fully support. The organization invests in pre-seed and seed-stage startups that have a product, a go-to-market strategy, and a potential for high growth. Most of their portfolio companies are minority and/or female-founded technology startups. Despite that, they remain industry agnostic and invest in all entrepreneurs all over the world and from diverse backgrounds.

Out of their more than 100 investments, around 40% are into female-founded/led startups. This made them rank higher in comparison to the other top accelerators in the US, with an average of only 18.8% of those organizations’ investments being into female-founded/led startups.

Accelerator Program

• Healthcare Accelerator 2021 – An international program aimed to accelerate the growth of:
  • Medical device, life science, and biotechnology companies with clear FDA path, anticipating clearance into the market within the next 12-24 months, post-non-dilutive, pre-Series A, a clearly differentiated market need and strong core IP and a multi-founder team with a dedicated business lead or CEO.
  • Healthcare tech and digital health companies – Pre-series A with a proven product and a clear go-to-market plan, Post non-dilutive, pre-Series A, multi founder team with evidence of traction. Ready for and desiring exponential growth.

• Africa Accelerator: September 2021 – a program targeting the African continent and its technology companies with the following features: 
  • Pre-Series A, tech-enabled startups
  • Main operations based in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Proven and scalable product, beyond the MVP-stage
  • Capital-efficient with a clear revenue model
  • Validated market demand, with at least ~$5K MRR

• International Accelerator – A program aiming at international entrepreneurs. For eight weeks, chosen companies will be immersed in the exciting startup ecosystem that is Silicon Beach, accessing US venture capital and gaining a competitive advantage to set them apart from the rest. Startups will receive a total investment of $100 000 including 20 000 in program fees and will participate in an intensive, two-month-long acceleration program in Santa Monica, California.

The Team

Brian Mac Mahon – Founder of Expert DOJO who has been consulting and coaching in over 35 countries helping to build a global perspective on how to start and grow a small business. He has been teaching the power of creating a strong community and the process of turning a pay it forwards mindset into a revenue generator for years. Brian combines this teaching with the experience of working with thousands of small businesses over the years.

Thomas Richter – Head of European investments at Expert Dojo.  He is a venture capital investor with 20+ years of experience in technology, AR, autonomous vehicles, IoT, robotics, B2B, SaaS, B2C, and more.  Prior to Expert DOJO, Thomas was an early-stage Investor with OneTraction based in Palo Alto. Prior to that, he founded myNexio and C3ntric as founder or Co-founder. Before that, Thomas spent 13 years with Skyworks, most recently as Senior Director with responsibilities for business & product strategy, operations, customer support, and M&A.

Jonathan Wallace –  Investment director at Expert Dojo. He joined the organization upon its inception as an investment analyst. Over the course of the next 3 years, he managed to establish relationships with some of the largest venture capital funds on the globe and helped many startups raise investment.  Jonathan currently oversees all follow-on investments.

Sophie Angner – Head of Operations at Expert Dojo. She specializes in helping founders become more successful with their marketing efforts. With 6 years of professional experience as a marketing manager, she has helped several startups grow and establish themselves on the market.

Chris Harvey – Chief Legal Officer at Expert Dojo.  He has been practicing law for over 10 years as a transactional lawyer with primary experience in the representation of early-stage venture capital funds, accelerators, venture studios, startups, and other fund-related businesses.

Nektar Baziotis – Chief Technical Officer at Expert Dojo. Nektar is a serial entrepreneur, with more than 20 years of experience in International Business Development,  IT Project Management, IT Business Consulting, and E-Learning. Successfully delivered IT products and services for the UN, European Commission, European Parliament, organizations, and privately held companies in several countries. With a formal education in Maths (AUTH), International Business (Penn) & MBA (Sheffield).

Links

Follow Expert Dojo on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

Check out Expert Dojo’s website here