The newly launched Roseville Venture Lab is taking applications for its first cohort of Roseville Rising, a six-week program to support early-stage entrepreneurs.
Roseville Rising is the first program of the new Roseville Venture Lab, a partnership of the city and the Rocklin-based Growth Factory business accelerator.
The Roseville Rising program is free and open to entrepreneurs from anywhere in the greater Sacramento region. The candidate companies are expected to have an existing product or service.
The first cohort will likely be 12 to 15 people, said Melissa Anguiano, Roseville's economic development director.
Roseville Rising will focus on validating business models and growing customer traction and sales. The program will include a series of workshops, one-on-one office meetings and peer feedback sessions.
Applications are due Aug. 15 for the program that will begin early in September, according to the city.
In May, Roseville’s City Council unanimously approved $1.16 million in funding over three years to create the Roseville Venture Lab, which will be an entrepreneurship center in a city building in downtown Roseville operated by the Growth Factory. The city sees the Venture Lab as an economic driver supporting entrepreneurship and driving more people and events to Roseville’s downtown.
The Growth Factory is a Rocklin-based business accelerator program launched last year by entrepreneur Mark Haney that has a goal of investing $10 million in local funding into 100 local companies over four years to build the startup business ecosystem.
The Roseville Venture Lab will operate out of 2,416 square feet of space in a city-owned building at 316 Vernon St., near Roseville City Hall. The lab office is currently undergoing tenant improvements and is expected to be completed just before the program starts.
