Starting from the top
Pre-accelerators are essentially programs, meetings, or courses, that are geared towards people with ideas (sometimes even towards those in the brainstorming pre-planning phase), who want to join a full-fledged startup accelerator, but aren’t quite ready yet.
Why pre-accelerators?
Typically, first-time entrepreneurs are looking to get three things out of a pre-accelerator: networking, practical know-how, and personal growth. In most typical pre-accelerators, you’ll meet other first-time entrepreneurs, as well as successful startup founders and investors. For many first-time entrepreneurs, however, these networking events leave something to be desired. There is something lacking. One pre-accelerator in Austin wants to change this by focusing on diversity and inclusion.
The need for change
Nothing can pop your “dream big” bubble faster than feeling like you don’t belong at an event. Whether you feel like your ideas aren’t welcome, or you feel the diversity mix doesn’t really represent who you are and what you envision for your business; if you don’t feel included, the pre-accelerator isn’t going to do you any good. DivInc aims to remedy this by offering a 12 week pre-accelerator program to help foster growth and development of ethnically diverse and women-led tech companies.
DivInc’s main goal is to address the lack of diversity in the tech startup ecosystem, specifically, which is something that is desperately needed.
The 12-week program will also “provide teams with top-notch, comprehensive programming and connect them with an extensive network of mentors and investors plus the critical resources they need to turn their idea into high-growth, scalable business.”
What makes this pre-accelerator different
DivInc offers education and mentorship programs in addition to their 12-week program. They offer a weekly “accelerate your growth” workshop led by notable tech founders and investors, pitch coaching, and investment readiness. They also use their community of entrepreneurs and experts to offer one-on-one access to investors and the ability to leverage their onsite “entrepreneur-in-residence” throughout the program.
What makes DivInc is their collaborative, non-competitive environment with weekly networking and volunteer opportunities, team dinners and access to a strong alumni network.
Unlike other pre-accelerators, DivInc is focused on making you feel like you belong while helping you launch your idea or product successfully. To learn more about DivInc, see who the “experts” are, or sign up for their pre-accelerator, take a look at their site.
