A St. Louis-based startup accelerator that aims to help fund and sustain businesses led by Black and Latino founders is expanding the number of companies it works with on an annual basis.
Beginning this year, the Elevate/Elevar Accelerator plans to operate two cohorts annually, up from one each in its first two years of operation. With the expansion, the number of companies that Elevate/Elevar works with through the program will double to 20 a year.
Launched in 2020, Elevate/Elevar has staged two cohorts of its accelerator program and selected 10 Black and Latino founders to take part in its business development programming. Through the 10-week accelerator program, companies selected for Elevate/Elevar are given a $5,000 grant and marketing and wellness stipends. Elevate/Elevar is part of WEPOWER, a local nonprofit focused on developing equitable education, economic, health and justice systems.
As it transitions to staging two cohorts annually, WEPOWER Director of Entrepreneurship Keisha Mabry Haymore said Elevate/Elevar is retooling the structure of its business development programming. That involves shifting the length of the accelerator program from six months to 10 weeks. Haymore said the shortened time period will allow the accelerator to complete two cohorts per year and will create a program that's more suitable to the business owners taking part in it.
“Six months is a very long commitment and it’s because we want to be partners with our entrepreneurs. But we also know a lot of small-business owners depend a lot on their founder. And for that reason, we believe if we take the meat of the program and do it in 10 weeks, we can get more entrepreneurs to participate and engage, because it’s not as long as a commitment and we can get two cohorts in per year,” Haymore said.
Given the shorter length of the accelerator program, Haymore said Elevate/Elevar has focused on figuring out what programming needs to be provided during the 10-week accelerator and what should be offered to founders after they become alumni of the incubator program. While the 10 weeks of programming will cover an array of topics, including human resources, strategy and operations, Haymore said its main focus will be on helping participants prepare to secure outside capital for their business.
“The bulk of the 10 weeks is going to be focused on finances and getting entrepreneurs investment-ready as it relates to the requirements to do so,” she said.
Haymore said the programming will seek to help the cohort companies secure funding from a range of source but will also ensure the businesses meet the requirements to be eligible to seek funding from two of WEPOWER's own capital sources, which include a newly launched $1.5 million investment fund and a crowdfunding partnership.
Elevate/Elevar’s first cohort of 2022 is slated to begin in May. Applications for the cohort are due Thursday. Startups and small businesses led by Black or Latino entrepreneurs with annual revenue between $50,000 and $500,000 are encouraged to apply.
