Ecosystem Building
Accelerating Entrepreneurship in Virginia
The main objective of the partnership between Activation Capital and Opportunity Hub was to build an ecosystem of resources to support diverse high growth company founders. This included providing social, knowledge, and financial capital to clusters, entrepreneur support organizations, and entrepreneurs, as well as offering mentorship and other forms of support to help founders navigate the challenges of building and growing a successful business. All in efforts to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for entrepreneurs of all backgrounds.
As the Chief Growth Officer, I led the end-to-end effort of the Pilot Initiative. This included sourcing and vetting companies, marketing the program, designing it, and reporting metrics to Activation Capital's leadership team. The Pilot Initiative aimed to build high-growth, venture-backable companies and the program included the following:
Virtual launch Event
The program launched with a virtual event that included fireside chats with successful entrepreneurs and investors from underrepresented communities, such as Kishau Rogers, Sherrell Dorsey, Farah Allen, Kelli Jones, and Brandon Andrews.
Startup Masterclass
100 early-stage founders participated in a one-day masterclass designed to take them through the agile process of obsessive problem-solving and fortify them with the knowledge to start a high-growth business from the ground up.
High-Growth Company Building Bootcamp Program
50 idea-stage startup companies with Black and Brown founders participated in a month-long bootcamp that covered topics such as customer discovery, business model generation, building teams, market sizing, product development, customer development, fundraising, pitch prep, and corporate governance.
The Top 10
The top ten startups from the bootcamp pitched their ventures for a chance at a $50,000 investment investment from OHUB and Activation Capital. This company would also then be introduced to accelerators like Techstars, Alchemist and beyond; and investors like Lightship, Fearless, Backstage, Zeal and M25.
Demo Day
The top ten founders pitched their ventures for a chance at investment. The event was hosted by Startup Virginia and the Capital One 1717 Innovation Center, in partnership with Activation Capital. Additionally, Startup Virginia generously granted a 3-month membership to each of the top ten finalists.
Infrastructure for Entrepreneurial Access
Project Overview
Accelerating Entrepreneurship in Virginia
Activation Capital recognized the need for a more inclusive approach to venture development and partnered with OHUB to launch the new 6-month initiative to confront it head on. The program provided access to capital, mentorship, and resources to entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, with a focus on creating a more equitable and sustainable startup ecosystem.
CLIENT
Activation Capital
ROLE
Chief Growth Officer
LOCATION
Richmond, VA
TYPE
Ecosystem Building
THE CHALLENGE
Activation Capital, a leading organization for entrepreneurship and ecosystem development, was awarded $450,000 by GO Virginia for Region 4’s Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative (REI). This grant will be used to design a strategic growth plan for regional entrepreneurship. With this new funding, Activation Capital’s President and CEO, Chandra Briggman, aims to increase the rate of new business creation, coordinate resources and programs, accelerate existing businesses, and identify opportunities to strengthen the diverse business founder pipeline in the Greater Richmond and Greater Petersburg areas.
Value Created
The pilot program enabled Activation Capital to test various tactics for engaging an underrepresented population. Based on the pilot's findings, they developed a framework and playbook for creating a pipeline of diverse, well-supported founders who can contribute to the growing regional ecosystem.
The program's success illustrates my ability to build, connect, and accelerate inclusive ecosystems that drive regional economic development. It also emphasizes my ability to identify and implement place-based strategies that build, launch, and scale integrated supply chains of resources to support inclusive ecosystem building and drive the next wave of high-growth, scalable tech ventures.
