After a search that started last month, a new female-focused cohort of startups is looking to highlight the innovation ecosystem in Denton.
Created out of a collaboration between the Center for Women Entrepreneurship at Texas Woman’s University and local coworking space Stoke, the AccelerateHER incubator program accepted six local startups to take part in its upcoming cohort.
The participating startups were selected from three verticals, including creative, education and lifestyle – all things that help create Denton’s college town culture.
“The women leading each company have a clear idea of the problem they are working to solve and the passion and vision needed to work on providing a solution,” said Tracy Irby, associate director of the TWU Center for Women Entrepreneurs, in a statement.
Like many incubator programs, AccelerateHER will offer business development training, mentorship, networking and access to investors, as they grow their business. The programing hopes to leverage TWU’s female-focused entrepreneurial knowledge with Stoke’s startup network, which includes Denton Angels, a local investment group created by Stoke owner and satellite software startup Kubos CEO and co-founder Marshall Culpepper. And as is the norm, the program will be capped off with a pitch event.
As the cohort works its way through the program, it will be required to use its knowledge and mentorship to set and achieve milestones based off of the individual company. Some of the local entrepreneurial experts helping lead the program include Mary Anne Alhadeff, head of the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership at TWU; Emily Roden, CEO of Ready Rosie; and Aaron Powell, founder and CEO at Bunch Bikes.
The AccelerateHER incubator kicks off Oct. 1 and runs through February. Due to the pandemic, all of the workshops and meetings will be held virtually.
“To us, success would look like the companies in the pilot program accomplishing major startup goals, whether that be securing funding, landing their first customer, developing an MVP, launching their website, or initiating a marketing campaign,” wrote Heather Gregory, executive director at Stoke, in a post on the coworking space’s website at the time the program was announced. “Achieving any of these milestones would help Stoke meet our mission of having a positive impact on the culture and economy of Denton.”
Check out the inaugural AccelerateHER cohort below:
Black Girls Drone (Lewisville) – Black Girls Drone is a company created to help women from underserved communities become FAA certified drone pilots, helping increase diversity in a field where only women of color make up only 2 percent of the industry.
Cooks Without Borders (Dallas) – Created by former The Dallas Morning News restaurant critic Leslie Brenner, Cooks Without Borders is an online platform for recipes and culinary stories from around the world, in an effort to connect people to different cultures.
Departmynt (Dallas) – Departmynt brands itself as a dating app for clothing. Through its platform, users can choose to order clothing from an individually curated list of items.
Playable Media (Denton) – Playable Media is a developer of online learning courses for businesses in an effort to increase engagement between employee, customer and new audience.
Radda (Denton) – led by founder and classical pianist Michelle Schodowski, Radda is an edtech platform for music. The company helps connect students and educators around the globe in an effort to increase engagement in the arts.
The D. Diaries (Denton) – The D. Diaries is a website created by native influencer Lillia Whittington to highlight all things fashion and lifestyle in Denton.
