1776 Announces Its First Startup Class

After securing high-profile supporters in Washington, D.C., including Mayor Vincent Gray and Startup America Partnership CEO Scott Case, 1776 has officially opened its doors and announced its first class of startups.

The startup incubator, which is the dream child of co-founders Evan Burfield and Donna Harris, announced that its 1776 Campus startup class is more than 75 members strong. And it hopes to bring out the best of Washington with the program.

“The 1776 Campus will serve as the hub for 1776 programs going forward, including our incubator, events, school and accelerator program,” said Burfield in a press release announcing the freshmen class.

But if your startup wasn’t among the first 75, don’t worry, more seats will be made available.

“We’ve already received nearly 200 membership applications for the Campus from companies in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region, as well as from companies as far away as California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Ohio, Texas and Washington State,” said Harris in the press release. “We’ll continue to accept membership applications, and we’ve purposely saved seats for future members so we can curate the most interesting community of high potential companies.”

Some of the intriguing 1776 startup freshmen include Deconstruction, which aims to provide real-time environmental data for construction sites; RidePost, a ride-sharing startup that encourages people to open up their cars to other travelers looking to hitch a ride; Neighborsations, which focuses the collaborative power of social networking on a neighborhood level; and Flatworld Knowledge, the open-source textbook publisher that’s made waves in higher education.

For the full list of companies included in 1776’s first class, check out the official press release from the organization.