An accelerator program designed for technology startups recently launched to help budding entrepreneurs in the Charlotte area grow their businesses.
Flywheel, an early-stage venture capital firm, and the Cabarrus Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship are the leading organizations behind the New Ventures Tech Accelerator. The program will offer $50,000 of free software and business development for tech startups.
The accelerator will operate under the structure of Flywheel New Ventures, with software development firm Induro providing tech advancement services. Flywheel New Ventures is a program that started in 2016 and has invested more than $1 million in 23 early-stage companies.
The New Ventures Tech Accelerator program includes a free residence at the Cabarrus Center in downtown Concord and an opportunity to pitch to Flywheel New Ventures investment program.
Applications for interested founders are live and open year round. The forms will be reviewed quarterly, and up to three companies per year will be selected for acceleration and innovation, Flywheel said.
The tech program is ideal for early-stage founders that do not have a technical co-founder and may need technical support maturing their product. Resources included in the accelerator program such as legal, marketing, accounting and business development could also be beneficial for selected members.
"As we focus on supporting existing business growth and cultivating entrepreneurs, I’m proud of the growing business support ecosystem at the Cabarrus Center,” said Page Castrodale, executive director of the Cabarrus Economic Development Corp.
Castrodale added that the corporation plans to focus on excelling the economy by "supporting home-grown businesses."
The Cabarrus Center is a coworking space that opened last year for small businesses, startups, freelancers and remote workers. Flywheel designed and manages the space at 57 Union St. S. in Concord. The center is home to the Cabarrus EDC, the Small Business Center at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, the Cabarrus Chamber, Leading Business in Cabarrus as well as entrepreneurs and knowledge workers.
“So far the results have been very good,” said Peter Marsh, Flywheel New Ventures administrator. “The combined valuation of our portfolio companies has grown to more than $50 million based on priced follow-on investment rounds. Our companies have raised a total of $14.9 million in follow-on financing. Many of our companies are now in a growth hiring mode.”
New Ventures typically seeks in-state startups but also invests throughout the Southeast and other areas. The program primarily invests in operational systems such as software-as-a-service, business-to-business, business-to-consumer and device startups.
"Our retail lab has already helped launch several ‘main street’ entrepreneurs, and I am excited about the possibility of cultivating scalable technology startups focused on solving big problems," Castrodale said.
