Early Risers Academy will move online
March 17, 2020
As our community collectively works to halt the spread of COVID-19, we will run our upcoming Early Risers Academy pre-accelerator programs virtually.
If you can’t spend time working in your business, we want to help you work on your business.
Our 10-week Early Risers Academy program is completely free. The program is designed to take aspiring entrepreneurs from idea to launch, or to help newer small business owners plan & train to successfully scale. Entrepreneurs of all genders, colors & creeds are welcome.
The next general cohort will launch April 7 and run through June 9, and a tech cohort will launch April 8 & run through June 10. If there is enough interest, we will launch additional cohorts in April to meet the need.
Participants will spend those 10 weeks moving from idea to founding a business through coursework from the Kauffman Foundation, the country’s preeminent entrepreneurship-building organization. Aspiring founders will receive pitch coaching and hands-on mentoring, weekly discussions with successful entrepreneurs and experts, access to Dayton’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, & alumni support after graduating the academy.
The tech cohort will be run by reps from Converge Technologies, an engineering and business advisory firm that helps companies with development and commercialization of novel technologies. This focused cohort will offer additional experts on topics such as prototype development and how to design to appeal to end users and for large-scale manufacturing.
Applicants should be able to commit at least 4-6 hours per week to coursework for the duration of the academy.
Each program will conclude with a pitch event in which one graduate from each cohort will win $1,000 to infuse into their business. Pitch events will be organized with Launch Dayton, a collaborative effort to connect entrepreneurs to peers, resources, and supporters, and to tell the stories of our region’s thriving startup community.
“We are intentionally carving out space for minority founders and business owners to access resources that help build solid foundations and provide hands-on support in order to create successful businesses,” program manager KeAnna Daniels said. “We are committed to reaching non-tech and historically under-represented founders who haven’t always felt seen in Dayton’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
This pre-accelerator is supported by The Entrepreneurs Center & Wright State Research Institute, collaborators on the region’s Entrepreneurial Services Provider (ESP) grant which is funded by Ohio Third Frontier.
For more information, contact KeAnna at [email protected].
