The USC Ed Tech Accelerator, housed in USC’s Rossier School of Education, has been recognized by TIME as one of America’s Best Incubators & Accelerators for 2026. Ranked 48th out of 80, the distinction places the program among the top startup hubs in the country. The ranking was published on TIME’s website on August 18, 2026.
America’s Best Incubators & Accelerators 2026 ranks the nation’s top-performing start-up hubs across all industries by evaluating three criteria: founder feedback, program track record and recommendations from industry experts. Founder feedback scores were derived from a weighted combination of overall program recommendations and ratings across six specific evaluation criteria. The program’s track record was assessed using data submitted on the outcomes of each hub’s five most successful startup graduates. Expert recommendations were gathered by surveying experienced investors and entrepreneurs on which incubators and accelerators they would most readily recommend.
Founded in 2018 by USC professors Doug Lynch and Mark DeGennaro, the USC EdTech Accelerator supports EdTech solutions with high potential to improve the quality and equity of education, from early childhood through adult learning. Fully virtual, the EdTech Accelerator does not charge tuition, take equity in the companies that participate or require entrepreneurs to relocate. Participants benefit from customized programming and access to USC faculty and a university-wide network of industry advisors and mentors. Companies in the program are located all over the world and have raised over $150 million and impacted over 25 million learners.
“This award is not ours, this has happened because we take a stone soup approach calling in favors from the biggest thinkers in the ecosystem,” said Lynch “Including, Cooley, GSV, Whiteboard Advisors, Digital Promise and ISTE.”
“This recognition affirms that innovation and equity are not competing priorities, but complementary strengths,” said USC Rossier Pedro Noguera. “For the USC EdTech Accelerator to be ranked among the very best accelerators in the country is a statement to the caliber of entrepreneurs and the rigor of the programming we’ve established.”
Learn more about the USC EdTech Accelerator here.
