A Westport business accelerator will launch its first 12-week program for startups this week after receiving a $50,000 prize from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The Refinery, a Westport-based, early-stage accelerator for women-led enterprises, is one of 50 winners of the Growth Accelerator Fund competition. More than 800 applicants from 31 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico applied for the funding.
The Refinery, co-founded by Janis Collins and Jennifer Gabler this year, will launch its first session Wednesday at the Westport Public Library. The focus of the program is to provide women-led companies in Fairfield County with mentors, move them forward in their business models and prepare them to pitch their ideas to investors at the end of the sessions.
“Women-led companies are an under-financed segment of the startup and venture-backed market,” said Gabler, a CFO who works with venture-backed startup companies. “But there are statistics that show women-led companies are more efficient with capital and operate at or on par with their male counterparts. Janis and I are both very focused on job creation and viable investments. We want to present viable investments to the investor community.”
The Refinery admitted 10 of 28 small businesses into its 12-week startup accelerator program. The program includes teachings on financial models, how to build a team, marketing techniques and how to build a customer base. The sessions will culminate in November with a pitch night competition in which investors will have an opportunity to hear the startups share their business models. Startups will have the potential to receive $10,000 of seed funding.
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