Nicholas Holland's Populr.me accepted into renowned Silicon Valley accelerator

Populr.me, a startup launched by Nashville tech entrepreneur Nicholas Holland, is being called up to the big leagues -- of business accelerators.

Populr.me has been accepted into the next class at 500 Startups, a Silicon Valley-based business accelerator that many consider to be one of the world's pre-eminent programs of its kind. Holland made the announcement on his Twitter feed. Founded by Dave McClure in 2010, 500 Startups has invested $50 million in more than 500 startups in the past few years, and recruits entrepreneurs and mentors from across the globe to be in its program.

In June, The Wall Street Journal profiled McClure and 500 Startups unique model. Holland and Populr.me will take up residence in Silicon Valley for four months while going through the program, similar to Nashville's business accelerators.

According to the 500 Startups blog, over 130 companies were interviewed for the spots in the upcoming fall program that include Populr.me. The last 500 Startups class included 28 companies, and over 70 percent of the companies selected were from outside of the U.S.

Holland launched Populr.me after leaving CentreSource, securing seed funding from Nashville-based Bullpen Ventures in 2010. Populr.me allows customers to create unique Web pages called published one-pagers, or "POPs," within minutes and without having to maintain a website. The company has a growing overseas following.

"We are very excited about the level of visibility, expertise and partnerships a program like 500 Startups can bring to Populr," said Stuart McWhorter, co-founder of Bullpen Ventures. "This is another example of people taking notice of what's happening in Nashville."

For those of you who think visually, this infographic on 500 Startups in PandoDaily offers good insight into the program's global reach.

E.J. Boyer

Staff Writer- Nashville Business Journal