Tamara Lucas white-knuckled the steering wheel on the way to her second day in the Launchpad2X program. She was already breaking the first rule — never be late.
The entrepreneur let out a string of apologies as she rushed to her seat in a small conference room in Tech Alpharetta. Unknowingly, she just broke another rule.
“’You’re a CEO,’” Lucas remembers Launchpad2X chairman Bernie Dixon telling her. “’You never walk into the room and say you’re sorry. Stop apologizing.’”
The Launchpad2X program was more than lessons on best business practices for Lucas. It was a mindset shift and confidence boost. For 10 years, the nonprofit has mentored female entrepreneurs in Atlanta. Now, it's adding a grant fund to further that mission.
The nonprofit plans to raise $250,000 in donations for the fund, Launchpad2X president Christy Brown said. Entrepreneurs can apply for $5,000 to $10,000 grants.
More women are starting businesses but receiving less venture capital money, Brown said. Women received 2.2% of venture capital dollars in 2021, down from 2.5% in 2016 and 2.3% in 2020, according to Crunchbase research. Early-stage funding could make or break a business and is often the most difficult round to raise for entrepreneurs, local investors say.
As a first-time founder, Lucas needed the Launchpad2X mindset shift before she started raising initial funding for My Panda, a personal assistant app that connects locals together for different home tasks.
“I feel like I belong in the room much more than I did before,” Lucas said. “I’m more decisive. Both of those things indirectly strengthen the company.”
Underrepresented founders, including women and people of color, are often over mentored and underfunded, Lucas said. The grant program can help change that.
“We’re going to change the world if we’re given a chance,” Lucas said. “But we need capital.”
The grant fund comes after a year of expansion for Launchpad2X. The nonprofit began a “First Fridays” series, helping women practice their startup pitches with feedback from investors. Four founders got a spot to pitch at Venture Atlanta — the premier investor conference in the Southeast. Half of the 14 women who pitched at Venture Atlanta were Launchpad2X alumnae, Brown said.
Applications are now open for women to reserve their spots to pitch in this year’s series, which runs until September.
Launchpad2X has a network of 240 alumnae, Brown said. Companies led by alumnae have had a $1.4 billion economic impact in Atlanta and employ more than 260 people, according to the nonprofit’s 2021 State of Women’s Entrepreneurship Report.
The nonprofit is looking to expand its in-person courses to more cities, Brown said. The organization also has monthly workshops that are available online and in person as well as membership events.
