Cincinnati’s Hillman Accelerator has announced the beginning of its second cohort.
While the team is holding out announcing the names of participants, Hillman told Cincy Inno that the program begins this morning.
These four companies will each receive $100,000 in seed money from Hillman, along with mentorship, partnership opportunities and exposure to both a startup curriculum and the national Hillman network. Programming will extend through a Demo Day on Oct. 9. There, participants will pitch their startups to potential investors.
The accelerator, which has the distinction of being the only program in the Midwest for tech companies established by underrepresented founders, is led by Executive Director Candice Matthews. She founded the program along with Dhani Jones and Ebow Vroom in 2017.
Its mission is to "bridge the gap" by providing finances and resources for these founders. The gap? Women and founders of color receive less than 2 percent of venture capital — and the issue isn't that minority founders aren't in short supply, Matthews said.
“It’s not hard to find great companies founded by underserved individuals. The hard part is narrowing down an overly qualified pool to a few select teams," she said in a statement. "Hillman is excited to kick-off Cohort Two with four venture-backable companies created by brilliant teams.”
This group follows Cohort One's three-startup coterie: Warmilu, SoloFunds and Ilerasoft. Together, these companies have received $3 million in funding and added more than 20 jobs to the local ecosystem since graduating from Hillman. And, most recently, SoloFunds announced it would participate in Techstars' Kansas City accelerator this fall.
