Well Done, Core Fire Commandos and The College Initiative achieve post-accelerator funding; Pickle announces second funding round
Memphis, Tenn. (March 31, 2015) – Start Co., a member of the Global Accelerator Network operating industry-specific accelerators each summer, today announced $997,000 in new capital raises for two Seed Hatchery and two Sky High accelerator graduate startups in Memphis. These investments bring the total investment for 2014 cohort teams to just over $2 million since the close of the accelerator and continue the Start Co. tradition of bringing together talent, investors and ecosystem support for startup success.
“Each of these companies demonstrated their commitment to growth and further building their business during the post-accelerator program,” said Andre Fowlkes, President of Start Co. “We are proud of their continued success as they validate their businesses for future growth and sustainability.”
Four Memphis startups that closed on funding recently are:
- Core Fire Commandos ($100,000): Core Fire Commandos is an experiential learning program that teaches educational team building, problem solving and critical thinking through mock emergency and disaster situations in their power zone located at the Kroc Center of Memphis. Founder Ty Cobb plans to use the funding to build out a cloud-based portal that youth can use to translate their experiences into real life by growing relationships, receiving mentorship and tracking real life accomplishments.
- Pickle ($100,000): Pickle is a platform for brand engagement via competitive selfies and photo sharing. Co-founders Evan Katz and Morgan Steffy raised $20,000 in October 2014, and will use the new funding to continue developing their platform and growing their user-base.
- The College Initiative ($767,000): The College Initiative provides college-capable low-income and underserved high school students with the tools, support and mentorship to apply and succeed in college. Founder Gabriel Fotsing raised funds to ramp up operations in the Mid-South to serve 500 students in direct programming and 5,000 students in outreach programming.
- Well Done ($30,000): Well Done provides cloud-based Point-of-Sale software and related services to the restaurant industry. Co-founders Ken Watts and Brian Edwards plan to use the funding to expedite development of new features, develop technical documentation and improve infrastructure in preparation for scaling.
Each company has taken advantage of the Start Co. post-acceleration program, which consists of weekly office hours at the Start Lab, business development preparation sessions and various other workshops and strategy sessions led by Start Co. to help the teams prepare for investor meetings and term sheet development. Coupled with this round of funding, the Start Co. team helped its client and portfolio companies raise just over $4 million in 2014 – 15.
“We will continue to build resources and support for our programs and the startup ecosystem as we welcome our upcoming accelerator cohort, and look forward to tapping into the strong mentorship base we’ve cultivated from graduate teams and the Memphis business community,” Fowlkes added.
The Upstart, Seed Hatchery and Sky High accelerators will again run simultaneously through the summer in Downtown Memphis beginning May 4, which allows participants to interact with the downtown business community, including many mentors and partners from varying industry backgrounds.
About Start Co.
Start Co. is a nationally recognized nonprofit 501(c)(3) venture development organization based in Memphis, Tennessee, that relentlessly builds founders and companies, promoting entrepreneurship for everyone with a focus on digital startups. Start Co. is a member of the Global Accelerator Network and aims to advance Memphis’ economic growth through entrepreneurship. The organization is supported by partners including archer>malmo, Baker Donelson, The Marston Group, Mosaik Solutions and Softlayer (an IBM company). More information can be found at neverstop.co.