Realist Lab Venture Launch Fellows Program
The Realist Lab Venture Launch Program a revolutionary program designed to support business owners, and build toward a more equitable and inclusive future for the residents of Connecticut. This innovative program is designed to leverage the rich untapped business opportunity that comes with women and minoritized owned businesses. The Realist Lab Venture Launch Program connects startup business owners with the resources, network, and capital they need to establish, launch, and scale successful ventures in Connecticut. The initiative consists of two parts. The first part is a Fellows Startup Accelerator which consists of a 12-weeks structured curriculum that provides training in core business practices, founder wellness, and tailored specializations in technology and consumer products. The second part is a Startup Technical Co-Founder Service that takes graduates of the accelerator and provides them with legal, marketing, and technical resources, enabling founders to launch successfully, capital raise, and/or scale their high-growth potential startups
- Must be 51% owned and operated by a person of color (including Black, Indigenous, Latine, and Asian American owners) or a woman or a member of the LGBTQIA+ Community.
- Independently owned and operated and is not a franchise location
- Is based in the State of Connecticut
Programming Overview
Phase 1
Our part-time program is structured to enable entrepreneurs to focus on day-to-day business operations while participating in the program. Fellows selected will also receive a cash grant to subsidize any costs lost while attending the program. The weekly sessions dive into topics such as:
- Business Fundamentals, Market research, validation, storytelling.
- Identify target customers and ideal business model.
- Startup Leadership, hiring, founder self-care, and work culture.
- Financials, preparation for fundraising and financing assistance.
- Fellows will have curriculum and mentors tailored to their respective industries of interest.
At the end of Phase I, Fellows will have a chance to showcase their companies to investors and target market buyers in a Founder Demo Day.
Phase 2
Most underrepresented founders are under funded, under networked, and under-resourced. We find that founders also need support beyond funding and the traditional accelerator curriculum. A select group of entrepreneurs from Phase I will participate in Phase II program to build their initial minimum viable product (MVP). We believe that this “co-founder as a service” model will launch founders on a trajectory to scaling successful businesses.
- Our software engineers build out a minimum viable product that is launch ready.
- Marketers will assist founders on their go-to-market strategy.
- Legal teams will assist founders in preparation for capital raise activities.
Once the founder’s startup is ready for their capital raise after exhibiting significant progress with their MVP, we will then invite the investors and target market buyers who showed interest from the Phase 1 Demo Day to be the first to invest, alongside us with our investment arm, Realist Ventures.