After navigating the pivot to a virtual model for its first cohort, Impact Ventures has named the new members of its 2020 fall accelerator cohort. And the all virtual-model has allowed the nonprofit organization to expand its reach across the U.S.
Focused on early-stage, high growth tech and CPG businesses, especially those with female founders or founders of color, Impact Ventures has included 13 startups in its new cohort, including five from the North Texas area.
“Our goal is to provide a platform and vehicle to create wealth for the new majority and create jobs for these same communities,” Benjamin Vann, founder and CEO at Impact Ventures, told NTX Inno via email.
The two-month IV Accelerator program kicked off at the beginning of the month and runs through January, capping off with a demo day.
Last cohort, Impact Ventures saw more than 160 applicants from 22 different countries. The ones selected went on to raise nearly $500,000 and create 46 new jobs.
For Impact Ventures, the focus on creating a funding and growth platform for underrepresented founders is key. For this cohort, the organization is preparing to launch an integrated capital fund that will work in parallel with the accelerator with the ability to debt and equity fund individual businesses. Part of that funding will come from a recent partnership with Capital One and Paul Quinn College.
“We believe that investing flexible integrated capital, technical assistance and mentorship in talented, yet underestimated women and entrepreneurs of color can build economic power, create generational wealth and restore the productive capacity of communities of color. This is our aim,” Vann said.
In addition, the cohort’s group of 70 mentors will be divided into groups of three to four that will be dedicated to work with individual startups to address specific needs and create achievable milestones. Impact Ventures is also looking for additional interested investors to participate in investor office hours.
“We’ve really built the program around the entrepreneurs needs,” Vann said. “For us, it’s not so much about pushing a big number of entrepreneurs through a few workshops and events and saying we’re supporting diverse founders, but truly rolling up our sleeves and diving into the weeds with them and producing quality entrepreneurs that a technically sound and capital ready.”
Vann said one of the main barriers of entry for underrepresented founders is a lack of ecosystem and network around them, something Impact Ventures is hoping to create in the local scene. Nationwide, more than 80 percent of VC firms don’t have a single Black investor. Only 1 percent of VC-backed founders are Black. And only 3 percent of VCs are Black.
“We see the roles of investors, or what we call enablers of innovation, very critical,” Vann said. “The biggest key to this role is understanding that we should not only be seeking to shift capital into the hands of founders from all backgrounds and economic status but we should also seek to shift the power of who gets to decide said capital and resources.”
Meet the members of the fall IV Accelerator cohort below (descriptions provided by Impact Ventures).
North Texas members:
AccessMyResearch (Richardson) - A nonprofit social network platform removing barriers between academia, industry and the public. The social platform simplifies sharing research for academics and offers free services to tech and medical companies, research labs and institutes and individuals who are seeking access to cutting edge research across the globe.
AlgoPear (DFW) - A marketplace that automates stock trading completely. AlgoPear’s AI marketplace connects retail traders with proven algorithms. It automates short term trading for the 95 percent of traders that fail because they don't have the time, discipline and automation resources like hedge funds to succeed. AlgoPear maximizes profits, minimizes risk and democratizes wealth.
NeoCurly (Richardson) – A platform that educates African-American women about their hair, conducts surveys to gather data about each customer and formulates products that cater to women.
SWYE360 (Frisco) - An all-in-one collaborative e-learning platform for teachers to deliver teaching to students anywhere, synchronously and asynchronously. With one login, teachers, students and parents will have access to their daily needs, combining the fragmented world of online education.
XR Sports Group (Frisco) - XR Sports is a B2B white label software solution that hosts and powers digital gaming platforms for traditional entertainment properties, such as pro sports teams, college conferences, celebrity influencers and physical venues, such as movie theaters.
Other members:
ClassHook (San Francisco) - ClassHook helps teachers find educational scenes from popular TV shows and movies to meaningfully engage their students and spark their curiosity. Teachers in over 12,000 schools use ClassHook's web-based platform to increase student engagement by 66 percent on average.
Codubee (Austin) - Codubee provides underrepresented minorities with tech internship experience when a traditional internship is not possible.
EDUrain (St. Louis) - EDUrain is a marketplace that aggregates financial aid, scholarships and off-campus housing to provide unprecedented ease of access for college-bound students.
Fischr Media (Minneapolis-St. Paul) – A media company focused on bringing authentic, diverse and empowerment-based stories from the Midwest region to national mainstream audiences. Currently working with 215+ educational institutions across 12 states to distribute content to younger audiences.
ForwardEdge AI (San Antonio) - Leverage emerging technologies including AI, blockchain, machine learning, robotic process automation, and swarm intelligence to solve complex problems of social consequence.
HairVoyage (Alaska) - Beauty tech marketplace company connecting beauty professionals globally for paid peer mentorship experiences.
Hoovie (Vancouver) - Social cinema platform that allows viewers to meaningfully engage around a movie and provides just compensation to independent filmmakers.
TheClub (Ewing, Nj.) - TheClub is an interactive live streaming app that enables DJs and other entertainers to seamlessly earn income while streaming.
