Managing Your Startups
Every startup you have ever taken in, with the whole of their history attached - what they were given, who mentored them, which desk they sat at and how they were scored. This page explains where that lives, how to add a startup outside the normal application route, and why the same startup can appear with two different statuses.
What you will learn
- The difference between your startup directory and a startup inside a program
- How to add a startup without them applying
- What each of the eight tabs on a startup holds
- Why a startup can show two different statuses at once
- How one startup can belong to several programs at the same time
Your startup directory#
Startups in the left-hand menu gives you everyone your centre has taken in, across every program and every year. Most startups arrive here automatically: when you onboard an application, the startup appears in this list without anyone typing anything.
- Grid and List buttons top right switch how you look at the same data.
- Grid is better for browsing - logos make startups easy to recognise.
- List is better for scanning - company, program, stage, funding, team and status in columns.
- The search box filters by name.
List view, for when you need to compare#
The list gives you the same startups as rows, which is what you want when someone asks how many Series A companies you have, or which program a particular startup came through.
Adding a startup that did not apply#
Not every startup arrives through an application. You may be migrating an existing cohort onto the portal, or taking someone in by direct invitation. Open a program, go to its Startups tab, and choose Add Startup.
- 1
Search for them first
Type their name or email. If the startup already exists anywhere on EcoSync - because they applied to another centre, or have a profile on the ecosystem platform - they will appear here. Picking them links to the existing record rather than creating a second one.
Tip: Always search before creating. Two records for the same startup means their funding history and mentor sessions end up split across both, and merging them later is painful.
- 2
Or add them manually
If the search finds nothing, Add New Startup Manually opens a form: startup name, founder name and email, a short and a long description, industries, location, website, phone, and internal notes only your team can see.
- You also pick which batch they belong to, or 'No Batch' if they sit outside your normal intakes.
- Set their status - Active, Prototype, Growth, Graduated, Inactive or Rejected.
- The internal notes box is genuinely private to your team. Use it for the context you would not put in an email.
A startup inside a program#
Opening a startup from within a program gives you the full picture: eight tabs and six summary tiles covering everything your centre has done with them. This is the screen to open before a review meeting.
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Overview | Summary tiles and company information. |
| Funding | What has been allocated and what has actually been disbursed. |
| Document Requested | Documents you have asked for and whether they arrived. |
| Registration | The original application that brought them in. |
| Evaluations | How the panel scored them. |
| Office & Facilities | Which desk or cabin they hold and what they have booked. |
| Mentorship | Mentors assigned and sessions held. |
| Associations | Every program at your centre this startup belongs to. |
Tip
The Portfolio button top right produces a consolidated view of the startup. It is the quickest way to prepare for a board meeting or a funder visit without assembling anything by hand.
Why you may see two different statuses#
This confuses people, so it is worth being precise. A startup has a status, and its link to each program has its own separate status. They are different things and they change independently.
| Which status | What it describes | Example values |
|---|---|---|
| Startup status | The state of the company record itself, independent of any program. | Created, Active, Prototype, Growth, Graduated, Inactive |
| Association status | The state of this startup's link to one particular program. | Onboarded, Graduated, Rejected |
Good to know
A startup can be Graduated from your 2024 cohort and Onboarded into your 2026 accelerator at the same time. Two associations, two statuses, one company. That is working as intended.
Startups in more than one program#
Startups often come back - a pre-incubation graduate applies to your accelerator, or a portfolio company joins a themed cohort. The Associations tab shows every program at your centre a startup belongs to, so you can see the whole relationship rather than one slice of it.
- Opening a startup from inside a program shows you that program's view of them.
- Opening the same startup from the Startups directory shows the company overall.
- The Associations tile tells you how many programs they are in - the one on our example says four.
- Funding, mentors and desks are tracked against the specific association, so a startup in two programs does not have its records mixed up.
Tip
A startup that has come through three of your programs is one of the strongest things you can put in front of a funder. The Associations tab is where that story is, already assembled.
Common questions#
Both. 'Onboarded' describes their link to a specific program. 'Created' is the state of the company record itself. They are separate fields and change independently.
Open the program, go to its Startups tab and choose Add Startup. Search for them first - if they exist anywhere on EcoSync, link to that record rather than creating a new one.
There is no merge. Keep whichever record has the funding and mentorship history attached, set the duplicate to Inactive, and note why. Searching before adding avoids this.
The directory view shows the company itself - Overview and Applications. The full eight tabs appear when you open a startup from inside a program, because funding, desks and mentors are recorded against that particular association.
Yes, and it is common. Each association is tracked separately, with its own funding, mentors and status. The Associations tab lists them all.
A private field on the startup record, visible only to your incubation team. The startup never sees it. Use it for the honest context you would not put in an email.
It produces a consolidated view of that startup pulling together their programs, funding and history - useful for board packs and funder visits.
