Great post. From the feedback I hear, it seems like your analysis of Techstars and Y Combinator is pretty accurate. I work at MassChallenge — the largest-ever startup accelerator and the first to support startups with no strings attached.

We’re only 2 years old so you may not have heard much about us yet, but the startups we accelerated in our first two programs have raised funding at the same or higher rate as startups from other accelerators (all of which are excellent programs).

MassChallenge definitely represents a 3rd model though — most notably because we do not take any equity from startups. Instead, MassChallenge is structured as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the sole objective to help high-impact startups launch and succeed. We use a community-driven competition framework to source and filter startups, and award $1M in cash prizes annually along with $4M+ of in-kind support — again, with no equity taken and no strings attached. We are supported by sponsorships, grants and donations.

One other unique aspect about MassChallenge is that we are open to any startup in the world, in any industry. In 2011, we received applications from 24 countries and 34 states. We are also much larger than traditional accelerators — we accelerate 125 startups at once, all of which receive free space in our 27,000 square ft office on the Boston waterfront. That produces an intensely energetic environment and ensures that each startup can learn from the experiences of all 124 others … that may be why MassChallenge startups express greater satisfaction with MassChallenge than Apple customers do with Apple…

Sorry for the blatant plug, but we’re pretty proud of what we’re creating. Anyone who wants to learn more can visit our website: http://www.masschallenge.org or can reach us via email or phone as listed here: http://masschallenge.org/contact-us

Hope to hear from you. And thanks again for the post, Jesse.

Jeremy Bersin, MassChallenge