Impact Ventures, a Dallas-based startup accelerator with a mission to eliminate the social and economic economic barriers for under-estimated women and entrepreneurs of color building high-growth businesses and social enterprises, announces the 16 women and minority-led startups who were selected to participate in its inaugural Spring 2020 Fellowship program.
Impact Venture’s flagship accelerator program, “IV Fellowship”, is a highly intensive and hands on mentor and curriculum driven program designed to accelerate high-impact minority entrepreneurs and their businesses ventures. The goal of the program is to develop both the founders and their startups, giving them the greatest foundation for future success. Fellows benefit from 1-1 mentoring, blended online and in-person training, corporate innovation labs, a peer community, access to Impact Venture’s Inclusive Capital Network, up to $250K in startup perks and services, and invitation to Impact Venture’s life long alumni program, the “IV League” with continued mentorship, technical, and fundraising support.
“As the wealth gap in the U.S. continues to widen, we see technology and entrepreneurship as key drivers in closing a 400+ year gap. However, access to mentorship, education, and capital remain challenging for developing minority-led enterprises. Through our program, we connect under-estimated founders to all three and more. The Inaugural Spring 2020 Accelerator Fellows feature some of the most promising and innovative diverse founders DFW has to offer and we are excited to see them grow.” – Benjamin Vann, Founder & CEO
The Fellowship is made possible through the support of funders, partners, and mentors like Embrey Family Foundation, Intuit, Microsoft & Microsoft for Startups, Startup with IBM, Village Capital, Fidelity Investments, Capital One, Bottlerocket, Verizon, Cardtronics, and many others.
Acceptance into the Fellowship followed a highly competitive and intensive application and interview process. The 2020 Fellows operate in a variety of industries including education, entertainment, media, beauty, financial services, healthcare, and tech.
Congratulations to the 2020 Fellows!
Startup Track Fellows: (Idea/Concept/Prototype)
Alessandra (Aley) Desiderio, CREW Childcare Rewards App, Denver, CO
Crew turns every iphone and android into an opportunity for businesses to make social impact and parents to achieve financial freedom.
Evgeni Karelin, Audition Master, Ft. Worth, TX
Audition-Master is the ultimate platform for students across Texas to prepare for the All-State auditions and simply get better at their instruments.
Jesse Taylor, KidLink, Dallas, TX
Kid Link creates a bridge between parents and their children so that they can learn together, from anywhere in the world, through user-friendly and engaging technology.
Sara Barnes, Factor Shop, Dallas, TX
Factor Shop is a e-commerce platform that curates ethical fashion options across the globe to bring a paired down collection that keeps simple, thoughtful design at heart.
Terence Hemingway, TIDEZ, Fort Worth, TX
IDEZ is a digital publishing platform geared towards thoughtful content creators and readers. The platform allows businesses, entrepreneurs and influencers the ability to publish articles, digital magazines and podcasts while also uniquely engaging with their community through enhanced video and audio commenting.
Growth Track Fellows: (Pre-seed/Seed)
Andrea Malone, Red Plum Digital WP Builder, Dallas, TX
RedPlum Digital WP Builder is a ground-breaking, efficient and economic builder of beautiful WordPress websites. 24/7 support. Drag and Drop Templates. Custom Domains. Hosting. Business services and much more included.
David McDonald, Danielle Smith, Andre Ross, Education Empowered, Dallas, TX
Education Empowered generates culturally responsive classroom resources and professional development aimed at improving achievement and experience in schools for children of color. They utilize an online marketplace to sell culturally responsive resources and apparel as well as provide consulting services for teachers and schools.
Emanuel Green & Thomas Lanerhenning, Exgratias, Dallas, TX / Los Angeles, CA
Exgratias is an all-inclusive financial platform with various products tailored to the entertainment industry focused on contractual workers.
Kelly Pracht, Predikt, Dallas, TX / Houston, TX
Predikt is a Dallas Based company with an obsession for sports and tech. Delivering amazing fan experiences is our mission, and we use our cutting edge technology behind the scenes to make it happen.
Luis Linan, LatinX Spaces, Dallas, TX / Los Angeles, CA
Latinx Space is a digital media platform at the intersection of Latinx art, culture, and politics. Our mission is to create substantive engagement with the thoughts, ideas, and histories of diverse Latinx and Latin American cultures and to be the megaphone for the Latinx movement.
Roderick Turner, TOPIT, Fort Worth, TX
TOPIT is a social platform that allows brands, influencers and everyday users monetize their skilled, talented and niche content by create challenges to compete head to head against their peers, rivals and others.
Romy Antoine, One Stop Wellness, San Antonio, TX
One Stop Wellness currently delivers digital employee wellness program that is designed to empower employee health literacy and physician engagement to improve productivity and reduce health risks. Our mission is to build wellness communities by engaging employees to live happier, healthier, and more purposeful lives.
Sandeep Apsangi, HVACintel, Dallas, TX
HVACintel is an IoT platform – disrupting the space of HVAC service and maintenance industry. Our mission is – Predict HVAC failures, not face them!
Want to meet the Founders?
Join us at our Inaugural Virtual Startup Showcase May 30th HERE
