Thursday, October 20, 2011

MuckerLab Takes TechStars Incubation To Los Angeles

A new, technology startup accelerator modeled after the TechStars venture incubator in Boulder said today it has launched, and will bring business acceleration to Los Angeles. MuckerLab, headed by Erik Rannala, William Hsu, Greg Bettinelli and Yan-David Erlich, said it will employ a similar model to TechStars and Y-Combinator, recruiting Internet softwar,e services, and media entrepreneurs through a three month program. The group has affiliated itself with TechStars, through the TechStars Network, an effort which is part of Startup America to help spread best practices for venture incubators throughout the nation.

MuckerLab looks to have lined up a who's who of successful Los Angeles entrepreneurs as mentors, including Brett Markinson of HauteLook, Brian Lee of ShoeDazzle and LegalZoom, Hiten Shah of Kissmetrics, Howard Lindzon of StockTwits and Wallstrip, Paige Craig of BetterWorks, Ryan Steelberg of DMarc Broadcasting, and Tyler Goldman of BUZZMEDIA. The group has also lined up investors Aileen Lee of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Beau Laskey of Steamboat Ventures, Chris Farmer of General Catalyst Partners, Dana Stalder of Matrix Partners, Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, David Travers of Rustic Canyon Partners, Jeremy Liew of LightSpeed Venture Partners, and Jesse Jacobs of Chernin Group as mentors.

Rannala was at venture investor Harrison Metal, and recently moved to Los Angeles; Hsu was at AT&T Interactive; Bettinelli is at HauteLook; and Erlich was founder of ChoiceVendor, which was acquired by LinkedIn last year, and was founder of Mogad, which was acquired by iSkoot/Qualcomm.

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