Top 15 Startup Accelerators of 2012 Ranked, Y Combinator Tops List<p>Study by Team from Kellogg School of Management Reveals Top Accelerator Programs of 2012<p>Washington D.C. August 21, 2012 – Prof. Yael Hochberg and 2012 MBA graduate Kristen Kamath of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, in cooperation with media partner Tech Cocktail (tech.co), set out to determine the best startup accelerator programs in America and rank the top 15. Sitting atop this year’s list was Y Combinator, followed by TechStars Boulder and KickLabs respectively. This is the second year of the report, which was initiated in 2011 with Aziz Gilani, Director at DFJ Mercury.<p>In addition to the announcement of the top accelerators, Tech Cocktail is offering a free report to
entrepreneurs, sponsored by .CO Internet, the company behind the fast-growing .CO domain, titled, “A Guide to Choosing the Best Tech Accelerator for Your Startup”. This report will be available for download exclusively at tech.co, at the bottom of the accelerator rankings article. Topics covered in the report include analysis and advice on funding, mentorship, geography, network strength, and alternative startup programs.<p>“With the explosion of startup accelerators in the past couple of years, there are many options for entrepreneurs to sift through and no real resources to help find the right program for them,” said Frank Gruber, co-founder and CEO of Tech Cocktail. “Our goal in working with Prof. Hochberg’s team was to create an objective ranking that we could couple with our own research to create a more in-depth look at the various programs out there. There are many people who don't know what accelerators are or how to select one. We think the ranking created by Prof. Hochberg’s research team and the report created by Tech Cocktail provide an extremely valuable resource.”<p>See the full release at http://tech.co/top-startup-accelerators-ranked-2012-08