The Venture for America Accelerator is a 3-month program designed to support and catalyze the launch of our Fellow-founded companies. Based in Philadelphia, the Fellows and their teams are provided coworking space at First Round Capital, weekly programming, and access to VFA’s network of mentors, advisors, and investors. This year, five teams have hit the ground running in Philly, continuing to develop their businesses and preparing to become full-time founders at the conclusion of their Fellowship this summer.
03/01/17: Since the time of the Venture for America Accelerator, Sky Mutual has relaunched as Magnolia to address environmental markets. Learn more about Magnolia at www.mitigation.org
John Yarchoan is the founder of Magnolia, a weather insurance company that combines big data, climatology, and proprietary pricing models to protect companies and institutions from financial losses caused by unfavorable weather conditions. In other words, Magnolia helps companies and municipalities protect against the financial threat of unexpected weather that screws up their business. A self-proclaimed “weather nerd” (we didn’t know that was a thing), John grew up in Washington D.C. before heading to Amherst College where he earned a degree in Economics and Political Science. During his VFA Fellowship, John worked at Resource Environmental Solutions in New Orleans, where he analyzed land opportunities for the company to restore and conserve as part of its ecological offset business. With the latest arrival of spring sunshine in Philly, John can usually be found outside enjoying the weather (nothing new here…), playing ultimate frisbee or running along the Schuylkill River.
Over the last few months at the accelerator, John’s been assessing the market for Magnolia and working to zero in on the industries most ripe for their product to gain traction and scale. He’s also been working to better understand the sales process and how it can be standardized both within industries and across industries. Learn more about Magnolia and John’s journey at the VFA Accelerator below:
https://vimeo.com/133762109