I remember a lot of fanfare when it was first announced, and it seemed like an interesting novel approach to attracting startups.
Looking at it lately, it seems like a few of the Designated Organizations were almost operating on a pay-for-play model, where it comes across almost like they are charging fees for recommendation letters and then essentially rubber-stamping them.
Searching online mostly gives results from Youtube/Reddit/etc posted by companies & lawyers who will help streamline the process, in exchange for another fee.
Is this still a viable/helpful process for startups? Are there designated organizations which are more helpful/legitimate that one should consider, or any recommendations of who to avoid?
It does seem that many (most?) of the accelerator/incubators are pay-to-play. Some are more upfront about this than others. Techstars Toronto would be a notable exception obviously.
I suspect there's a little bit of this pay-to-play at work in some of the angels and funds also who are Designated Organisations, but I can't say that for certain.
The other thing I've gleaned is that the process currently takes a LONG time - like 1 year plus.
There's a couple forums you can search for that active ongoing discussions from applicants.