Venture For America’s mission is to create economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs. Our Accelerator serves as a foundational piece of a Fellow’s Fellowship experience if they have entrepreneurial ambitions. 

Fellow Founders can join the Accelerator after they’ve completed our two-year Fellowship and participated in programming: ideation sessions to identify problems and brainstorm solutions, validation challenges to validate their product or idea, and pitch opportunities to further validate their business in the market. After leveraging these opportunities, Fellow Founders who have a keen desire and preparedness to take the next steps to turn their passion into a full-time business venture seek out our Accelerator. 

What is the VFA Accelerator?

The Accelerator is a four month virtual program for seven to eight Fellow-Founded companies in the market validation to early traction stages. With VFA’s mission to support Fellows en route to their entrepreneurial dreams, the Accelerator is zero equity and provides Founders with access to more than 50 business and industry mentors across the country, weekly one-on-one accountability and support meetings with the VFA Team, and a community to grow with, since the companies competing are just like theirs. Since the Accelerator cohorts are traditionally small, the program’s curriculum is closely designed to meet the companies’ specific business challenges. At its conclusion, Founders get an opportunity to pitch to the broader Venture For America community at Demo Day, and can win up to $10,000.

Overall, the goal is that upon completing the Accelerator, Fellow Founders have clear next steps for their business, have made significant progress on their business, are more confident in their ability to found and grow a company, have had access to mentorship and learnings that are otherwise difficult to engage, and feel supported by VFA’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This Year’s Cohort

After an intensive selection process we’re excited to announce our 2021 cohort of six companies: 

• Athlytic Inc. | Ashton Keys ‘19, Detroit & Jared Eummer ‘19, Cleveland – A fully-integrated marketplace that connects student athletes with endorsement partners.
• bubuleh | Jordan Star ‘16, Pittsburgh – A sustainable and genderless clothing brand that celebrates Yiddish, Jewish heritage, culture, and family by putting older ideas and beliefs into conversation with newer aesthetics and styles.
• Halal Beauty | Adeel Afshar ‘19, Baltimore – 100% Halal Certified Cosmetics for Muslims who want to look and feel beautiful without compromising on their faith.
  
• Kuna Swimwear | Kathryn Booker ‘19, Cleveland – A closed-loop swimsuit company dedicated to protecting our oceans.
  
• Oasis-X | Mike Lee ‘18, Philadelphia – Decentralizing the agricultural industry by equipping cultivators with open and accessible tools to power the future of food, medicine, and materials production.
  
• Zapenda | Stella Safari ‘13, Detroit – For the African Diaspora who cannot access quality African fabrics and tailoring, Zapenda provides this customized experience. Unlike other emerging African brands, Zapenda offers customization and one of a kind pieces that are handmade by professional tailors in the Congo.

Stay Connected

Stay tuned to Venture For America’s social channels for more information and updates on this year’s Accelerator cohort. 

Hi! My name is Sri Varre. I’m a 2021 VFA Fellow from Columbus, Ohio, and a recent graduate of The George Washington University where I studied International Affairs and Economics.

After two challenges, more than 80 on Zoom, seven social events – I’m exactly halfway through Training Camp. To be completely honest, it’s been extremely challenging for me to truly feel connected to everyone in my Class given the virtual environment. However, after this week, I have felt the most at home and part of a community. Two of my highlights of the week came from the Self-Care in Startups and Deep Dive DEI sessions.

The Self-Care session took place earlier in the week and wasn’t anything transformational, but it was the shared sentiments about mental health that we all talked through that made it worth it. Caroline Hatfield, a VFA Detroit Alumna and therapist, walked us through the process of healing (heal, grow, soothe). She emphasized that this process was especially critical for us Fellows because 49% of entrepreneurs have a mental health condition compared to 32% for other working professionals. It was so refreshing to hear mental health being talked about transparently and genuinely. My favorite part was when one of my peers, Brianne, talked about how she spent the last semester in college doing so much at such a fast pace and how she is trying to slow down, take a step back to reflect, and focus on herself in this next chapter of her life. I was like, finally someone else that understands that a fast pace of life isn’t the version we should all strive for and maintain. We ended up talking in the Zoom chat throughout the session and afterward about how we aren’t “adulting” unless we are prioritizing ourselves, exploring hobbies, and defining ourselves with non-work-related obligations.

The next day my week got even better because of the one-on-one conversations I had during the DEI session led by Nicole Avant. Having spent the past three years writing, researching, and working on DEI initiatives, I was so excited to learn more about my biases and how we can work collectively to push the needle forward on racial, gender, and identity-related conversations within and outside of professional settings. We did two different exercises with our partners. During the first one, we had three minutes to write assumptions about our partner (what are his/her hobbies, favorite genre of music, where was he/she born, what is his/her religious affiliation). I was shocked because a lot of my responses about my partner were accurate, but it was fascinating to learn why we thought what we did about the other. In the second exercise, we shared what we had drawn individuals from various racial and gender identities doing and our assumptions around each of these groups. I shared that I drew an Asian woman as an engineer, but I was about to draw her as a creative because those are all the Asian women I follow and look up to on social media. My partner asked me why I didn’t draw her in a creative field, and I talked about how I grew up seeing South Asian women within my family and social circles go pursue white-collar jobs that were “prestigious” by a cultural standard. In response, he said, “Well I hope you pursue a creative path, whatever that means to you because you deserve to live out your dreams while making your role models proud.” Hearing a stranger that I had talked with for less than 15 minutes tell me this just made me feel so valued. I always thought I was crazy for wanting to be an entrepreneur, but I know now that I need to try for my own sake but also to inspire the next generation of young South Asian girls.

Week 1 of Training Camp has ended. I have a lot of feelings at this moment. To understand them though, I need to give some context on where they come from. For my journey to this moment has been a long one, hard fought, and arduous.

Having interned for VFA in 2016 I had the luxury of attending an in-person Training Camp. So I had expectations. When I heard that Training Camp would be virtual I was worried. To me, the greatest value of VFA is the community and the people. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to meet as many people or form real connections with them. I was worried that training wouldn’t be as involved or interesting in a virtual format. I was worried that it wouldn’t give me the same feelings that I had in 2016.

My worries were rooted in my previous experience. An experience that sold me on VFA, and inspired me to be a part of this community. When I applied to VFA I had just been introduced to entrepreneurship. I had heard the word before but didn’t really know what it meant until my Intro to Entrepreneurship class in college. After that, I was hooked. I couldn’t get the idea that this was what I was meant to do out of my head. So I looked for internships where I could get some experience at a start-up and see entrepreneurship first hand. I ended up applying for VFA.

Once accepted, I had a conversation with myself. I recognized the value of this opportunity and I was not going to let it go to waste. I was going to work harder than I ever had before, and learn as much as I could during this internship. I was taking 2 summer classes, accounting and marketing, but I was confident I could still be a great intern.

I set off to Brown University for TC2K16 with the Team and the Fellows. I was immediately infatuated by the whole shindig. The guests who came in for training were amazing. Their trainings were real and valuable. Most of all though, the Fellows and the Team were some of the best people I had ever met. There was this aura of possibility and belief in the future that was intoxicating and infectious. I noticed myself believing more in my abilities. I was coming up with more ideas. I challenged my beliefs, learned new perspectives and grew. I met some of the smartest, hard-working, and amazing people I have ever met, and who I still talk to today.

At the end of Training Camp I felt that I had accomplished my goal. That I had worked harder than I had ever worked before, and that the Team and the Fellows valued me and the work I did. I knew that entrepreneurship was what I wanted to do, and that VFA was the way I wanted to do it. I wanted to be a part of this community because it inspired me to be a better version of myself. It felt like home to me.

Fast forward 2 years and I am a senior in college approaching graduation. I applied to the Fellowship class of 2018 with maximum confidence, borderline hubris, and expected nothing but the best. I thought, “the VFA Team has seen how hard I work and that I can contribute value to a team. They have seen me at my best. I’m sure they will want me to be a part of this community.” I rushed through the application process. Wrote my essays in a couple hours and submitted it. I sat back and waited for the next step.

About a week or two later I got an email from the Team. It said that my application to the Fellowship had been denied. My stomach dropped to my toes as I read that line. Sitting in the living room of my off-campus house with my roommates all talking and having a good time, suddenly everything was quite. My eyes were fixed on that one word, “denied.” As my brain ctrl + alt + delete rebooted, a wave of existential dread washed over me.

I had no idea what I was going to do. For the next few days I crumbled. I skipped classes. I didn’t see any friends. I sat thinking about the future, and what I was going to do in my life.

This had been the one thing in my life to that point that I really wanted. I wanted it so bad I could feel it in my bones. I felt like I had earned my spot in the Fellowship already, and being a part of the community was one of the few things that truly mattered to me. Yet, they didn’t want me. And if they had seen me at my best, working my hardest, and they still didn’t want me to be in their organization, then who would…? If this was the one thing I felt I truly wanted and I couldn’t do it, what could I do? It felt like I had finally found my home, only to be told that I wasn’t wanted there. It was the first real failure of my life, and it crushed me.

After about a week of sulking and self-destructive behavior, I went for a walk. It was a beautiful spring evening in Bloomington, IN. As I walked around the campus, I reflected on the past 2 years. I asked myself, “have I really been working hard for this? Have I given my all to be a part of this community that I treasured so dearly? Is this really what I want?” When I was truly honest with myself, I knew that I hadn’t worked as hard as I could. That I had assumed I would be welcomed into the Fellowship with open arms, and because of that I hadn’t been working to do everything I could to make sure I would be a prime start-up employee. That I had been over-confident in my abilities instead of working to strengthen and master my skills. I knew I could have and should have done more. But I knew that I did really want this. I still had that feeling that I was meant to be a VFA Fellow. I knew I still wanted to be a part of the VFA community. So I asked myself, “if this is what I want, will I let this be the end? Is there anything I can do to still be a part of this community?”

In that moment I knew that this would not be the end. I remembered that you can still be in the Fellowship 2 years after you graduate. I trusted the VFA Team, and if they thought I wasn’t ready for the Fellowship then I trusted that decision. So I went back and reached out to the team for some feedback. The next week I got on a call and listened to the reasons my application was denied. There were 2 main points, the first being that my essays made it seem like I loved VFA more than aligned with the mission of the Fellowship. The second was that they felt that my resume at that moment would make it tough for me to find a position during match.

So I thought about this some more. I asked myself, “do I really want to be a Fellow? Do I just love VFA and the Team? Or do I actually align with the mission and believe in the goals of the Fellowship?” I knew that the Team was not the only thing I loved about VFA. I knew I aligned with the mission. I knew I was willing to work to prove it, and to show them that I was serious. So I thought about what I could do to become a better start-up employee. Sales was something people had always told me I should do, and that it was an incredibly valuable business skill. So I figured I would get a sales job and work for 2 years. During those 2 years I would learn as much as I could about sales and business. After 2 years of hard work and learning as much as I could I would re-apply for the Fellowship.

So I set out to do just that. I got a sales job at Schneider Transportation. I worked hard there for 2 years. I studied sales books, read sales blogs, and learned as much as I could about the business and industry I had chosen to work in. And I found success. I was good at my job, and I liked sales. But I didn’t love the industry and I knew this was only a stepping stone. The Fellowship was always in the back of my mind. After 2 years I was ready to move on, and one day on LinkedIn I saw a post from VFA, “the 2021 Fellowship application is now open.” My eyes lit up. I was ready. I had worked, and sacrificed for 2 years all for this moment. Now I was ready.

Here I am now, writing my Week 1 Training Camp diary. And this journey is what I am looking back on now as I ask myself how I feel after the first week of TC. Virtual Training Camp has pleasantly surprised me, and dispelled the worried I had before. The trainings have been amazing, the website challenge was definitely a challenge, but still a great experience, and the people are more amazing than I thought they could be. I have met so many amazing people in my class, and already forged some real connections. I am filled with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, gratitude, and vindication.

I know the the last 2 years were absolutely worth it. I know that this is where I want to be. The cloud of existential dread that once loomed over me has dissipated. I am so grateful for everything in my life. I am amazed at the talent of my peers and feel lucky just to share a Zoom call with them. I am excited for the next 3 weeks of challenges and seeing the amazing work we produce. I feel a sense of purpose, community, and belief that I haven’t felt since that summer of 2016. For the last few years there were many moments when it felt like I was lost. Now, it feels like I am finally home and my heart is full.

Earlier this week I sat down at the desk I had just dragged upstairs into my childhood bedroom to log on to the first of many zoom meetings. It was at that moment when all that lay ahead of me truly occurred to me for the first time. While the first week of Training Camp has been a full-circle moment for me, virtual Training Camp has been a fun twist. In 2019, as a rising junior in college, I completed a summer internship with Venture For America. As an intern, I supported the operation of Training Camp for 2019 Fellows. It was my dream internship. As the only black intern out of five, and the only one from a non-prestigious university, the significance was tangible to me. I remember being simply in awe of all the Fellows I met with the opportunity to hear their stories, their aspirations, and experience their community.

How it feels to be writing today, as a 2021 Fellow, is hard to describe in words, but I’m grateful for the opportunity. What I’ve certainly felt in this first week of Training Camp is growth. I had the opportunity back in 2019 to sit in on the very same Indigo Assessment workshop that I participated in this past week. The Indigo Assessment is a collection of short questionnaires meant to place you into a personality type based on four factors (Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness, and Compliance) similar to Meyer-Briggs. This is in addition to insights that identify one’s strengths, weaknesses, and working style. I’m a sucker for a personality test or any structure for self-reflection. I think the context of VFA was the true catalyst for this week’s breakthrough.

It was incredibly rewarding to reflect on how I have changed and how I haven’t changed in the last two years. It was really exciting to see that I’d developed some important skills in the last two years like negotiation, continuous learning, and people advocacy. The score that places my personality though, hadn’t shifted much at all. Just like two years ago, I have a low D(ominance) score and a low I(nfluencing). This means I’m generally non-confrontational and cooperative. I’m also generally reflective and listen more than I talk. On the other hand, I scored high on S(teadiness) and C(ompliance). This suggests that I’m patient and thrive within a structure. Now, this is all according to the insights of my results but is reflective of who I and others know me to be. In the two years between my internship and my Fellowship, I’ve come to accept and revel in the truest version of myself. Maybe a non-confrontational and patient lover of rules, isn’t how you would describe an entrepreneur. But after a bout of imposter syndrome and several insightful, informal conversations with my fellow Fellows, I’m confident there is a path to entrepreneurship for me. If not, with this amazing community around me I sure I can actualize one.