NA beer, sustainable leather, queer coffee roasting land in Built Oregon Accelerator

Fifteen consumer product companies are part of the latest cohort for the Built Oregon Accelerator, a program designed to support founders of consumer product companies.

Participating companies range from coffee roasting to bicycle gear to sustainable leather goods and health and beauty. The majority of this cohort are Portland-based, which isn’t a criteria for the statewide group, but happened to be where the majority of applications came from this year, said Built Director Mitch Daugherty.

The accelerator is a four-month program but the connections last much longer. “We always say it never ends. Four months in consumer products is a blip,” so the support is ongoing, he said.

As part of the accelerator, founders receive weekly one-on-one coaching with Daugherty, Built co-founder and Portland Incubator Experiment general manager Rick Turoczy or Built board member and food and beverage strategist Karmen Olson. These sessions can tackle any challenges a founder is facing.

Founders also have access to roughly 200 mentors within the Built network of consumer product experts. The group also has regular cohort gatherings to foster peer-to-peer support.

“This accelerator is distinct from others in that it’s very human-centric. We put the people at the front of the problems we are trying to solve,” said Olson, who is also Accelerator program chair for the Built board.

Community is the core of the program, so founders are selected in part based on their ability and willingness to contribute and be engaged with the community, Olson and Daugherty said.

The program also isn’t limited to companies that are brand new. Daugherty noted some participants have been around for years and found success, but they are looking for the community support to grow further.

A huge goal of this program is to offer people a way to increase their social capital, said Daugherty, which can help a founder in the long term. Though the program uses the term "accelerator," which is popular in tech circles, this program doesn’t operate with the end goal of huge valuations and venture capital investment the way tech accelerators do.

“The goal of the program is to support the people behind the businesses,” said Olson, whose consumer career has spanned Reser’s Fine Foods, Craft Brew Alliance and Anheuser-Busch. “In tech it’s supporting the business and growth of the business.”

Here’s the companies in the cohort that starts Aug. 1:

Four companies are involved in what Built is called a “light touch” program that is monthly check-ins and mentor access. These companies are: