The Equitable Innovations Accelerator (EIA) with support from the Washington State Department of Commerce is a first-of-its-kind program fueling the start-up community at the earliest stage of business development. It aims to make “entrepreneurship for all” a reality by prioritizing entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities. The EIA will provide 10 tech start-ups with up to $100K in non-dilutive philanthropic grants, programming, and access to mentors and coaches.
Donor Name: Find Ventures
State: Washington
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 01/31/2022
Size of the Grant: $100K
Details:
Founders accepted into this program from potential venture-scale tech startups will demonstrate their diverse executive leadership, will have a minimum viable product or a product representing tech transfers from Washington-based research institutions, will be under $1 million in annual revenue, and headquartered in Washington.
Find Ventures and the Washington State Department of Commerce share a vision and passion to create a world where all entrepreneurs, regardless of ethnicity, gender, ability, or sexual orientation, have an equitable opportunity in building companies and a confident shot at solving our greatest challenges. Yet, access to first financing rounds is difficult for a brand-new founder, especially if they are women, Black, Latin, Indigenous, people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ or non- binary, and verges on impossible for those without connections to mentors, investors, talent and resources.
The Equitable Innovations Accelerator is the solution to clear this roadblock and fuel a diverse cohort of start-up founders at the earliest stage of business development.
Benefits
The Equitable Innovations Accelerator starts an unprecedented program to provide 10 tech startups with up to $100K in philanthropic grants, startup programming, and access to mentors/ coaches to enable them to equitable pursue their business goals. Philanthropic support for the first Equitable Innovations Accelerator cohorts will be returned repeatedly, as successful founders/startups are encouraged to pay it forward and invest in the Find Ventures Fund by signing a non-binding pledge to support the future cohorts when they reach Series B or sustainable revenue.
It has been shown that this level of pre-seed investment allows for businesses to reach significant milestones such as product development, or customer acquisition as example, that make them well-positioned to grow and secure follow-on funding (if needed).
Who is Eligible to Apply?
The ideal participant of the Equitable Innovations Accelerator will be the founder or CEO of potential venture-scale tech startup that:
- Has at least one founder that is Black, Latinx, Native American, female/non- binary, disabled, a veteran, refugee, and/or LGBTQ;
- Has a team or a co-founder;
- Has a product or service that is at least a Minimum Viable Product. We will also consider products/services representing tech transfer from WA-based research institutions;
- Has a technology-based product or service, or a tech-enabled product or service serving any of Washington’s vital business sectors (maritime, aerospace, agriculture, manufacturing, etc);
- Is below $1M in annual revenue or below;
- Is headquartered in Washington, with a preference for startups located in rural areas.
For more information, visit Equitable Innovations Accelerator.
