Powering up the next generation of cooperatives at scale.

Accelerate

Our accelerator selects the most promising teams from across the United States and provides them with training and support embedded in our rigorous business curriculum and world-class mentor community.

Start.coop is supporting a new generation of entrepreneurs who are expanding ownership in business sectors ranging from healthcare to the gig economy. We prioritize businesses that create wealth for people of color, women, immigrants and other marginalized populations.

Applications for our Fall 2023 Accelerator are now closed.

The Elements

  • Established leaders in co-operative business and social entrepreneurship provide custom, individualized coaching sessions to help you set and achieve your business growth goals.

  • We provide a robust learning experience for entrepreneurs focused on building real world business skills so you can succeed and scale. Our in person kick off week and virtual weekly workshops are on topics that will help you validate your business idea, validate your ownership model and help you develop a clear roadmap for growth.

  • We bring together the brightest minds in the co-op and startup communities to provide you with individualized strategic guidance and support.

  • We work closely with you to secure financing from individual and institutional investors, co-op loan programs, and philanthropy. Additionally, U.S. based graduates are eligible to apply for funding from the Equitable Economy Fund.

  • We curate and secure discounted access to top business management tools and services (e.g. legal, accounting, CRM, and marketing tools) saving you time and money during the critical start-up phase.

  • You are connected with a cohort of values-aligned entrepreneurs with whom you can lean on for support as you scale your businesses together.

Important Dates

  • Applications Open: May 3, 2023

  • Information Sessions: May 10, May 31 , June 5 & June 15

  • Applications Close: June 21, 2023

  • Final Stage Interviews: July 11-27, 2023

  • Offers Made: August 2, 2023

  • In person Kick off Week (Washington, DC): September 5-8, 2023

  • Virtual Program: September 12-November 30, 2023

  • Graduation Showcase: November 30, 2023

Join us for an Information Sesssion

Program Eligibility

 

What We Look For

 

Our three baseline criteria for start-ups to be eligible for our general accelerator are:

  1. Share ownership with their community (workers, users, etc.) or plan to in the next 12 months

  2. Have a vision for scale with the potential for 250 members and/or $1m in revenue by the end of Year 3 post-accelerator

  3. Based in the U.S. or Canada.

As Start.coop works to lift up each year’s most promising entrepreneurs, our team uses the following criteria to evaluate applicants:

  • Social impact: What is the social impact of the business? Does the business have the potential to create a substantial impact for communities of color?

  • Financial viability: Does the business model make sense? Is it viable long-term?

  • Scalability: Can the business scale? How large and how quickly?

  • Industry Experience: Does the founding team have relevant industry experience?

  • Ability to execute: Can the founding team execute on their vision?

  • Entrepreneur Passion: Are the founders passionate and dedicated? What skills do they bring?

Meet our Entrepreneurs

 FAQs

  • We are running two programs in 2023. Our Spring Accelerator, through the support of the AARP Foundation, is for entrepreneurs age 50+. In the Fall we will host our general accelerator for all U.S. and Canadian entrepreneurs who meet our eligibility requirements. The Fall Accelerator program dates are September 5-November 30, 2023. This includes an in-person kick off week in Washington, DC from September 5-8 and 11 virtual weeks.

  • On a yearly basis, we ask our community to help us select the co-ops with the greatest potential so that we can give them everything we’ve got, from curriculum to mentorship to investment. We intentionally accept a small cohort in order to create a supportive and intense learning environment that we believe will foster the best outcomes for the entrepreneurs, the co-ops, and our society writ-large. Our belief is that by lifting up and bringing together the most promising cooperative entrepreneurs each year, entrepreneurs will learn more from each other, support each other, and increase their odds of success.

    Note that Start.coop is an extremely selective program, so we also recommend that you check out our additional resources section and the list of cooperative developers who form the Cooperation Works network. To make things easier for you, we designed the application to cover everything that should be in an early-stage business plan. And if you are at the beginning stages of forming your business, you can consider using our application questions to help you build out your business plan.

    • The business is not cooperatively owned and/or has no intention of adopting a shared ownership structure

    • The business lacks a clear vision of how it will generate revenue

    • The business is located outside the United States

    • The business has no plans or path to scale

  • We get that you are a new business in planning, and that you may not yet have a finished business plan (most business plans are never really finished anyway). Please take a look at our application preview page for guidance on what we’re looking for, and you can use those questions as an outline for a business plan deck.

    Even if you are very early in the process, you are welcome to apply, as our application questions are designed to mimic a pitch process and include many of the questions you’ll need to be able to answer in order to build a business plan.

    We also encourage you to sign-up for our Lean Co-op online course for guidance on how to develop your business model and ownership model. And you can also connect with regional co-op developers in your area for more help!

  • If selected, you’ll need to commit to attending our in-person kick off week in Washington, DC from September 5-8 and at least 80% of all virtual accelerator sessions.

    Our virtual sessions are held every Thursday from 2-4pm Eastern and on many Tuesdays from 2-4pm Eastern.

    The estimated time commitment per week is 5-6 hours.