SBA Boosts Economic Impact of Accelerators with $4.4 Million in Prizes

ewalsh • August 5, 2015

PRESS RELEASE: SBA Boosts Economic Impact of Accelerators with $4.4 Million in Prizes

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) today announced the 80 winners of the second annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. The recipients represent 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Accelerators serve entrepreneurs in a broad set of industries and sectors – from manufacturing and tech start-ups, to farming and biotech – with many focused on creating a diverse and inclusive small business community.

“SBA is continuing to make advances in supporting unique organizations that help the start-up community grow, become commercially viable, and have a real and sustained economic impact,” said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet. “Through the wide-spread outreach of this competition, we are able to reach entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country. My commitment is to make our resources available to 21st century entrepreneurs where they are, and these accelerators, also known as incubators and innovation hubs, are the gathering place for today’s innovators and disruptors.”

Applications were judged by more than 40 experts with entrepreneurial, investment, startup, economic development, capital formation and academic backgrounds from both the public and private sector. The first panel of judges reviewed over 400 applications and presentations and established a pool of 180 highly qualified finalists. The second panel evaluated the finalists’ presentations and pitch videos and selected the 80 winners.

Each organization will receive a cash prize of $50,000 from the SBA. In accepting these funds, the accelerators will also be committing to quarterly reporting for one year. They will be required to report metrics such as jobs created, funds raised, startups launched and corporate sponsors obtained. This will allow the SBA to continue building upon its database of accelerators and their impact, and to develop long-term relationships with the startups and constituents in these innovative and entrepreneurial communities.

The purpose of the competition was to draw attention and funding to parts of the country where there are gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. While there are entrepreneurial activities occurring nationwide, some are better supported by private sector ecosystems than others. SBA has created connective tissue amongst the nearly 130 winning entrepreneurial ecosystems now part of the Growth Accelerator Fund. We will continue to explore ways to creatively harness this powerful network and connect startups to each other and Federal government resources. We reported to Congress a baseline of 2014’s fifty winners – made up of about 1,500 companies that have raised $600 million and employ nearly 5,000 people – and with the Class of 2015 the number of entrepreneurs we touch grows significantly.

Additionally, SBA’s Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA) used the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition’s framework to award an additional $400,000 to ecosystems primarily dedicated to Native American entrepreneurs and small businesses. Criteria used for these eight $50,000 prizes were determined by the ONAA, which also managed and judged these eight selections.

The SBA will be discussing the Growth Accelerator program and other SBA programs at the White House Demo Day today. Tune in live at www.whitehouse.gov/live and check out www.sba.gov/accelerators for more details.

The winners are listed below:

City

State

Name of Accelerator

Anchorage

Launch : Alaska

Homer

Alaska Small Business Incubator, LLC

Birmingham

Velocity

Fayetteville

Startup Junkie Consulting, 2.7.0 Accelerator

Phoenix

CPLC Pickle House

Phoenix

SEED SPOT

La Jolla

mystartupXX, University of California San Diego

Los Angeles

LACI (Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator)

Oakland

Impact Hub Oakland

San Diego

Hera Labs

San Jose

Manos Accelerator

Alamosa

San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition

Boulder

Unreasonable Institute

Boulder

MergeLane

Loveland

The Warehouse Business Accelerator

Hartford

LaunchPad for Impact

Washington

Halcyon Incubator

Washington

Launch Pad

Washington

Mess Hall

Fort Pierce

Pioneer Business Incubator

Orlando

VentureScaleUp

Tampa

FirstWaVE Accelerator

Atlanta

FOCUS Inculator

Rome

Makervillage

Honolulu

XLR8UH

Kahului

Maui Food Innovation Center – Maui Accelerator Program

Kailua-Kona

GVS Transmedia Accelerator

Cedar Rapids

Entrepreneurial Development Center, Inc.

Cedar Rapids

Iowa Startup Accelerator

Champaign

I-Start (EnterpriseWorks at the UIUC Research Park)

Chicago

Fulton-Carroll Center

Chicago

Impact Engine

Park Forest

SouthWorks MakerLab in Park Forest

Anderson

Flagship Accelerator Program

Louisville

XLerateHealth

Louisville

LVL1 Inc.

New Orleans

PowerMoves.NOLA

New Orleans

Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation

New Orleans

IDEAx

Boston

Fraunhofer TechBridge

Boston

InciteHealth

Somerville

Greentown Labs

Rockville

Relevant Health

Portland

E2Tech – Environmental & Energy Technology Council of Maine

Portland

Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development (MCED)

Battle Creek

Inge’s Place

Detroit

NextEnergy

St. Louis

Prosper Startup Accelerator

Bozeman

406 Labs

Charlotte

RevTech Labs & QC FinTech

Research Triangle Park

First Flight Venture Center

Omaha

Year of the Startup

Keene

Hannah Grimes Center

Ironia

Great Turning Advisors Social Business Accelerator

Albuquerque

Creative Startups Accelerator

Albuquerque

Native Entrepreneur in Residence Program

Brooklyn

Manufacture New York

Ithaca

Passenger to Pilot: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

Long Island City

Coalition for Queens (C4Q)

New York

KiiLN – Keystone for Incubating Innovation in Life Sciences Network

New York

Minority Venture Partners (MVP) Accelerator

Cincinnati

First Batch

Cleveland

VictoryStart

Medford

Sustainable Valley Technology Group

Portland

Oregon BEST StartSpace

Portland

ONABEN

Philadelphia

University City Science Center Digital Health Accelerator

Reading

IDEA Food Accelerator

San Juan

EnterPRize Accelerator

San Juan

Codetrotters Academy / Accelerator

Providence

Social Enterprise Greenhouse Accelerator

Charleston

Local Works

Greenville

Greenville Chamber Minority Business Accelerator Program

North Charleston

Fresh Future Farm Inc.

Chattanooga

CO.LAB (The Company Lab)

Memphis

ZeroTo510

Memphis

Start Co. Integration Accelerator

Dallas

EMERGE powered by Tech Wildcatters

El Paso

RedSky

San Antonio

Live Work Unit Accelerator

Salt Lake City

Sustainable Startups

Arlington

Eastern Foundry

Hampton

Peninsula Technology Incubator

Richmond

Lighthouse

Vienna

Equita

Spokane

Ignite Northwest

Milwaukee

WERCBench Labs

Beckley

West Virginia Hive

Office of Native American Affairs Special Prizes

CITY

STATE

NAME OF ACCELERATOR

Anchorage

Launch: Alaska

Fayetteville

The ARK Challenge

Kahului

Maui Food Innovation Center – Maui Accelerator Program

Albuquerque

Native Entrepreneur in Residence Program

Charleston

Fresh Future Farm Inc.

Fort Pierce

Pioneer Business Incubator

Portland

ONABEN

Homer

Alaska Small Business Incubator, LLC

Release Number: 15-66

Contact: Miguel Ayala (202) 450-0148
Internet Address: www.sba.gov/news
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