VC fund Spark Capital today announced a new program called Start@Spark that will provide entrepreneurs with up to $250,000 in seed financing to get their companies through the development stage. The funding will mainly go to entrepreneurs in New York City and Boston, and primarily in the areas of content, online services and applications, technology platforms and infrastructure.

With larger funds looking for smaller, earlier bets in the downturn, Spark is the second VC fund in the last week to announce new funding for seed investments. Last week, Sequoia Capital joined angel investor Y Combinator to form a fund focused on even smaller bets of between $5,000 and $20,000 to allow investors to participate in the conception phase of business ideas. 

Details about the size of the Spark’s new program (and whether it will even be a separate fund) weren’t disclosed, but it currently manages about $600 million and has a strong track record in digital media, having funded companies like Twitter, Akamai (NSDQ: AKAM) Technologies, thePlatform and Novatel Wireless.

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