This week, three women-led startups from Charlotte join Techstars Austin's spring accelerator program.
Milkful, SkillPop and The Waggle Company will be in Austin for the next 12 weeks, joining a cohort of 10 startups from around the country. The program will give the founders — Dina Carey of Milkful, Haley Bohon of SkillPop and Meggie Williams of Waggle — access to other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, program alumni, investors, community leaders and corporations with the overarching goal of putting each company on a path to greater success.
Acceptance into the accelerator — which offers startups a stipend in exchange for an equity stake in each company — is an achievement in itself. Techstars Austin received more than 1,000 applications for the 2018 program.
"With both The Wed Clique and 2ULaundry going through Techstars 2017 (Austin & Atlanta programs, respectively), it's clear that Charlotte is getting noticed in the national startup scene," Williams, of Waggle, said. "We couldn't be more excited about what this means for our city."
And for the future of their companies.
For Carey, of Milkful, one of the big draws was the access to a vast network of support and expertise.
"It's super isolating to have your own business. You feel like you're alone. I'm so excited to have a group of mentors now who are supporting the business, and I don't have to have all the answers," Carey said.
Bohon, of SkillPop, has already grown her startup beyond Charlotte, to three other cities including Greenville, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham. Techstars Austin will allow the founders to remain hyper-focused on building their companies for 12 straight weeks — which could serve to accelerate that growth exponentially.
"Dina, Meggie and myself will be based in Austin for the duration of the program this spring and will be working closely with hand-selected mentors as well as other startup founders to tackle challenges, build our networks and position our respective companies for growth," Bohon said.
We'll be keeping up with the Charlotte founders as the program progresses, so stay tuned!
