# CELA

> CELA is a New York accelerator operator founded in 2016 that designs founder education, mentor matching and institutional startup programs. Its work includes Westchester County's Element 46 accelerator and global founder office hours. CELA merged with WEVE in December 2023; the combined operation adopted the QUAY Acceleration brand in 2024.

- **Founded:** 2016
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Founders:** John Lynn (Co-founder and CEO of CELA; co-founder and managing partner of QUAY)
- **Products:** Institutional accelerator design and operations, Element 46 Tech Accelerator Powered by CELA, Global Founders Office Hours, QUAY acceleration and licensing
- **Notable:** Selected to operate Westchester's revamped Element 46 program in 2022., Ran matched international founder office hours with Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab in 2023., Combined operations with WEVE to form QUAY.

## Products & services

- **Institutional accelerator design and operations** — Founder curriculum, mentor recruitment and matching, program delivery and pitch events for institutional startup ecosystems.
- **Element 46 Tech Accelerator Powered by CELA** — Westchester County partnership launched in June 2022, initially offering ten-week cohorts of up to ten startups; later announcements describe up to twelve. It continues under QUAY.
- **Global Founders Office Hours** — A 2023 event with Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab offered ten selected founders four matched mentors, with twelve minutes per meeting.
- **QUAY acceleration and licensing** — Successor services include international market-entry programs, economic-development accelerators and licenses for institutional program materials.

## Achievements

- Selected to operate Westchester's revamped Element 46 program in 2022.
- Ran matched international founder office hours with Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab in 2023.
- Combined operations with WEVE to form QUAY.
- In a February 2026 program announcement, John Lynn reported 87% of Element 46 startups from the preceding four years remained in business; this is an attributed program claim, not an independently audited causal result.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Element 46 announced applications for its eleventh overall cohort under QUAY, free to Westchester County residents; the announcement reported alumni acquisitions of Adro and Augie Studio.
- **2024-11** — QUAY's LinkedIn merger announcement specified a December 2023 combination, a summer 2024 rebrand and September announcement.
- **2024-09** — CELA's LinkedIn promoted the QUAY podcast, explicitly identifying it as formerly CELA Innovation and WEVE Acceleration.

## Links

- Website: https://www.quay.co/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/celarator/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/cela
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-08