In the second year of the Women and Minority Entrepreneurial Development Program, Innovate Mississippi grew the cohort to 18 startup companies, putting their founders through a 12-week educational sprint. The program, funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, seeks to introduce people from historically underserved communities to early-stage capital, professional mentors and entrepreneurial education.
“Mississippi is a state with one of the highest minority populations. The impact of minority entrepreneurship can be significant by providing resources to help this demographic become more active in entrepreneurship,” said Tasha Bibb, director of entrepreneurial development at Innovate Mississippi.
Bibb notes that nationally, minority ownership of small businesses took a severe hit at the height of COVID-19, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In the spring of 2020 alone, Black-owned small companies fell 41 percent.
During the 12 weeks of the program, startup CEOs learn to create and test their product, determine their value proposition and conduct customer research to help prove whether they’re genuinely addressing a significant problem that merits a business. They then craft a financial and marketing plan and build a pitch deck to practice their investor appeal at the end of the program. Throughout the process, mentors and guest speakers from the entrepreneurial ecosystem visited the virtual cohort to discuss legal, financial, marketing, product and other startup issues and challenges.
“There’s always some little pointer that they say and… the lightbulb comes on,” said Dr. Barbara Coatney, the founder of Time Touch Take, a product for helping seniors and the sight-impaired stay on top of their medication schedules. Her company has also successfully applied to the Mississippi Seed Fund and she pitched during the Company & Investor Spotlight during the 2021 Accelerate conference. “They just helped me stay on track.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic limited most of this summer’s interactions to ZOOM, the loosening of restrictions made it possible for some of the founders to get together in person. At the August 2021 CONNECT networking event that Innovate Mississippi holds at Cultivation Food Hall in Jackson, members of the cohort met one another—and professional mentors—in a casual setting to continue discussing their businesses.
“The connections to resources is something that I really, really wanted to make sure we brought in, ” said Bibb, referencing both the mentors and organizations such as Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) and Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). “I like to see them go ahead and establish those relationships and make those connections.
Graduates from the program are eligible for a $2,500-$5,000 loan from the LaunchFund, interest-free for the first two years. Innovate Mississippi designed the loan to help eligible startups “launch” by creating a prototype, protecting intellectual property or continuing their market research. That loan can be combined with a proof-of-concept award from the Mississippi Seed Fund and then promising startups can apply for the New Technology Award. Likewise, Innovate Mississippi can introduce them to one of Mississippi’s regional angel funds.
Bibb said it’s been rewarding to work with the Kellogg Foundation and many partners and mentors within the state. MDA’s. Minority Development Division, SBDC, The Bean Path, Precipice, IP Grantham Poole, The Mabus Agency, INNODE, Attorney Anne Turner and Attorney Dellwyn Smith all helped out during those 12 weeks and after.
“I think one of the most rewarding feelings for entrepreneurs is when they understand the critical elements of building a business and develop knowledge that they can use on the next business idea,” Bibb said. “One of our members has secured a major partner, another is almost finished with an initial prototype and one has received funding through the Mississippi Seed Fund.”
