Babson College Expands Accelerator Program To San Francisco Campus

WELLESLEY, Mass., Aug. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Babson College, the top-ranked college for entrepreneurship, is expanding the John E. and Alice L. Butler Venture Accelerator program to the College's San Francisco campus.

Babson's Butler Venture Accelerator serves all students looking to start or advance an entrepreneurial venture by providing an entrepreneurial community and support throughout the stages of developing their company including workspace, peer mentoring programs, mentoring and other valuable resources.

Thomas Alexander has been appointed Entrepreneur-at-Large and will launch the San Francisco Butler Venture Accelerator program on September 6, 2012.  In his role, Alexander will be responsible for facilitating access to resources that help Fast Track MBA students move their ventures forward.

Alexander joins Babson College after having decades of experience in founding, growing and exiting high technology enterprises. A self-described 'practitioner turned professor,' Alexander has served as CEO for 4 companies (EASI, ADMS, LuxN, Intransa). As an entrepreneur, Alexander founded five companies (ACT, EON, LuxN, PK4 Software, and 21st Century Toys) where he raised over $200M from top VC firms in addition to starting his own VC firm where he served as general partner for 4 years. Alexander also played the role of forensic CEO, served on the board of directors for various companies, and was an EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) for a top VC firm in Silicon Valley.

He earned his Bachelors of Engineering from University of Madras, MS in Aerospace from Rutgers University, and his MBA from Harvard Business School. Having been a member of the core faculty of Asian Institute of Management in Philippines since July 2010, Alexander served as a Senior Associate professor, Entrepreneur in Residence, and has led seminar classes on Entrepreneurship. Having experience teaching both MBA and MM (Masters in Management) students, Alexander has developed two new courses and has produced over 3 case studies in the past year. Outside his career as both an entrepreneurial practitioner and professor, Alexander played an active role in mentoring founders of new enterprises around the world, and was chosen as the Mentor of the year for the Team In Training Marathon races. Throughout his career he has trained 30+marathon finishers and took them across the finish line injury free. Additionally, Alexander helped to financially build wells in two villages in Ghana, a library in Quevedo, Ecuador and to improve two orphanages in India.

Babson College in San Francisco's SOMA District
The F.W. Olin Graduate School's San Francisco campus (135 Main Street) brings a Babson presence to the West Coast. This location provides the opportunity to offer the Babson MBA through the Fast Track program in a location convenient to where its entrepreneurial students live and work. Speaker series, partnering with local companies for special events, and Rocket Pitch, a multi-university business idea competition are just a few of the community and business building opportunities that Babson brings to the San Francisco market.

About Babson
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds™. The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory, where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society -- while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs. We shape the leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to create economic and social value. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. For information, visit www.babson.edu.

SOURCE Babson College