A Charlotte-based startup that's on a mission to boost work productivity and engagement with its project management platform was among 12 companies chosen to participate in Techstars' New York City 2023 accelerator.
Leantime, founded in 2022, was the only North Carolina startup selected for the program, which kicked off Nov. 13.
Boulder, Colorado-based Techstars is widely known as one of the largest startup accelerators in the world, investing in more than 3,700 early-stage companies since its inception in 2006. The cohort of startups will have access to Techstars' three-month, mentorship-driven program and will participate in a pitch showcase on Feb. 15.
Gloria Folaron, co-founder of Leantime, said the program will provide her with knowledge of the full "founder experience," which includes mentorship on fundraising, sales, demand-generation marketing and customer relationships.
She says the accelerator's networking opportunities will also be valuable. Techstars will connect Leantime and the other selected members with a worldwide network of entrepreneurs, providing the opportunity to select ideal advisers for the company's future.
"They are really tapping into all of it to make sure that we're well-rounded," Folaron said. "But I think for us, that networking is really important and getting the ability to meet and connect with mentors who build great businesses."
She met Elliot Mack, an investment associate at Techstars, at the end of Leantime's demo day for Amazon.com Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AMZN) AWS Impact Accelerator. The startup was selected into the Latino founder-focused program in May. Mack watched the startup pitch at the showcase and has followed its journey over the last few months, Folaron said.
She knew that she needed to apply for the program to learn how to successfully navigate the startup ecosystem and become more visible as an underrepresented Latino founder.
"This was a nice addition to really round out that founder experience," Folaron said. "And Techstars is known really to support fundraising and make sure that you get the right connections, which is really hard when you're an underrepresented founder trying to navigate that world, and you don't really have those connections."
Leantime is an open-source project management tool that simplifies planning. Users of the platform can identify project strategies, set goals, create solutions, plan timelines and accomplish tasks. It also supports neurodivergent employees, such as those with ADHD, ADD or dyslexia disorders. The startup believes cognitive accessibility is vital for driving an inclusive work culture.
"We look at things like cognitive accessibility and building for intrinsic motivation, and how do we spur and help people be motivated by purpose and impact," Folaron said.
It has experienced significant growth since inception, she said. The company has surpassed 22,000 installations of the platform for both its cloud and open-source systems.
"The tools that exist in this space tend to be very complicated and that you have to really think about how to set up your work," she said. "And when you have an experience where you can just go in and just start working, the world is kind of ready for that."
