Community Collaboration Fund awards to help underserved entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses access support programming and resources
INDIANAPOLIS (August 15, 2024) – Today, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) announced $1.05 million in grant awards to accelerate entrepreneurial activity and resources statewide through its new Community Collaboration Fund (CCF). This investment will help power 32 community-led projects focused on entrepreneurial education, connection and acceleration across Indiana, with a particular focus on underrepresented founders and underserved markets.
"Indiana already ranks number two in the nation for starting a business, and these unique and collaborative projects are set to propel our entrepreneurial ecosystem to even greater heights,” said Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg. “Through the Community Collaboration Fund, we’re accelerating 32 new projects aimed at filling critical gaps and providing more direct support and resources for our entrepreneurs and small businesses at every stage of their journey, ensuring that all Hoosiers have the tools needed to innovate, grow and succeed.”
CCF, launched in October 2023, is designed to foster Indiana’s already strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. Under the leadership of Governor Eric J. Holcomb, Indiana ranks No. 2 in the U.S. for starting a business by Forbes, boasts the 12th most active venture capital fund in the country, and has been recognized as a top 40 global emerging destination for entrepreneurship by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and its partners at Startup Genome.
The program provides matching grants to support new community collaborations, services and programming that will benefit Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with a focus on education, connection and acceleration. After an initial pilot of the program, the IEDC received more than 80 applications for its 2024 CCF grants. From the submissions, 32 projects were chosen based on their ability to fill gaps across the entrepreneurial ecosystem, support non-traditional markets and collaborate across boundaries.
The projects being funded, which are outlined below, will initiate a wide variety of programming and resources for entrepreneurs and small businesses, including pitch competitions, one-on-one mentorship, accelerators and student-focused entrepreneurial education.
NORTHERN INDIANA
• Capital Coaching | CDFI Friendly South Bend ($40,000 award)
CDFI Friendly South Bend will expand on its Capital Coaching project, which received initial funding through the CCF pilot program. Entrepreneurs will be paired with a capital coach that will educate them on the different financing opportunities that exist while simultaneously increasing access to those opportunities.
• Downtown Lafayette Business Acceleration Program | Lafayette Urban Enterprises Association ($19,525 award)
Lafayette Urban Enterprises Association will identify two businesses ready to make the jump into a physical location in downtown Lafayette and offer wrap around services from Ivy Tech and MatchBOX to accelerate their journey. The businesses will be provided with stair stepped rent and utilities support to help with their transition.
• Entrepreneurship Basics with G.R.O.W. | Ivy Tech Community College – Anderson Campus ($10,000 award)
Ivy Tech Community College – Anderson Campus will empower aspiring entrepreneurs in Madison County by providing them with the skills, resources and networks needed to succeed in the competitive business landscape. This project provides a three-day course focused on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, developing a business and marketing plan, best practices for networking and building relationships in the broader community.
• INAX: Acceleration Expansion | MatchBOX Studios ($39,833 award)
MatchBOX Studios will expand its seven-week accelerator program to different ecosystems throughout the state. MatchBOX will provide its three committed partners – Level Two in Plainfield, The Root in New Albany, and Lower Lincoln in Valparaiso – access to its accelerator curriculum and enable them to host programming out of their own spaces.
• InerG Impact Incubator for Entrepreneurs | InergG Impact ($40,000 award)
InerG Impact will increase access to affordable and comprehensive educational resources for entrepreneurs, with a specific focus on single member LLCs and underrepresented founders. The project will equip both student and community entrepreneurs with the skills they need to be successful in business ventures while simultaneously connecting them with their community- and entrepreneurial-minded individuals.
• Rally 2 Connect | Fusion 54 ($20,000 award)
Fusion 54 will host a series of events to serve as a beacon of connection for local leaders from surrounding counties and different local entrepreneurs from the Montgomery County area. Through interactive sessions and collaborative workshops, attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas, share insights and forge partnerships that will drive collective growth and prosperity.
• Removing Language Barriers to Business Acceleration | LARA Educational Activities ($39,500 award)
LARA will be partnering with MatchBOX Coworking Studio to translate its seven-week accelerator course into Spanish. The goal is to accelerate businesses in Spanish-speaking communities by removing barriers founders in that community face.
• South Shore Artistic & Creative Practice Development Program | South Shore Arts ($40,000 award)
South Shore Arts will facilitate a cohort of 12 creative individuals to participate in a 10-month accelerator-like program. Each participant will receive free personal studio space and trainings on subjects like marketing, bookkeeping and writing a business plan. The cohort’s culminating event will be the planning, coordinating, creating and delivering of a public art display for the community.
• THE Summit: Cracking the Code on Entrepreneurship | IronWorkz Corporation ($40,000 award)
IronWorkz Corporation will host a two-day summit designed to unite entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds and experience levels. The intent is to serve as a one-stop destination for all things entrepreneurship, offering tailored support, resources and collaboration opportunities.
• Thriving Entrepreneurs Coaching Program | Kokomo Thriving Center, Indiana Wesleyan University $40,000 award)
Kokomo Thriving Center will operate as a hub for entrepreneurial support, offering a range of services centered on executive coaching tailored specifically for entrepreneurs. The program seeks to bridge the gap between traditional business education and the practical support needed for entrepreneurs to thrive in this dynamic environment.
CENTRAL INDIANA
• Brush and Mortar Art Exchange | Arts Illiana ($10,000 award)
Arts Illiana will build on online platform dedicated to forming a mutually beneficial, artist-store partnership. Through this platform, artists will gain access to a wider audience and a reliable sales channel, while stores will benefit from enhanced aesthetics, attracting new customers and fostering a more inviting atmosphere.
• Capacity Building for Diverse Contractors | Mid-States Minority Supplier Development Council ($39,900 award)
Mid-States Minority Supplier Development Council will upskill diverse contractors, paving the way for their potential growth and success. This initiative focuses on crucial areas for contractors, like successfully bidding on projects best aligned with their capacity and skillset, effectively utilizing construction project management resources, and learning strategic contract planning processes from established business owners.
• From the Ground Up | The Speakeasy ($34,250 award)
The Speakeasy in Indianapolis will host workshops focused on empowering and educating individuals at the earliest stage of business development—in both English and Spanish. Designed to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and new business owners by providing essential knowledge in the realms of legal, human resources, accounting and banking.
• Frontline Ventures: Empowering Heroes Through Entrepreneurship | Project Never Broken ($13,300 award)
Project Never Broken will provide targeted support for the distinctive mental and emotional situations first responders encounter and will also help participants recognize how their skills as first responders can seamlessly transition to and thrive in the business environment. The program will move first responder entrepreneurs one step closer to starting a business through education and connections to mentors and resources that will be introduced through the series.
• ICBI Life Science Start Up to Acceleration | The Indiana Center for Biomedical Innovation ($40,000 award)
The Indiana Center for Biomedical Innovation (ICBI) will spur new start up activity and support existing high potential start up growth specifically in the life sciences sector. Using various financial models, ICBI will fund a number of ideas and projects to derisk and overcome existing and initial technical and business start-up issues as they specifically relate to life sciences.
• Igniting Growth for Cleaning Service Businesses | Business Ownership Initiative of Indiana ($40,000 award)
Business Ownership Initiative of Indiana will lead a cohort-based program that works with Latinas operating cleaning businesses to formalize their business and provide business advising, connections and resources fully in Spanish.
• Launch Johnson County | Greater Franklin Chamber of Commerce ($35,000 award)
Greater Franklin Chamber of Commerce will reach out to the smallest towns in Johnson County to expand access to resources for entrepreneurs in the southern part of the county. The goal is to unify the sporadic entrepreneur-focused initiatives in the county and to support both emerging and existing entrepreneurs with one-on-one mentorship and workshops.
• Mentorship Enhancement Initiative | Launch Fishers ($40,000 award)
Launch Fishers will establish a Subject Matter Experts (SME) mentorship network for Indiana Coworking Passport members. This project is designed to bridge the gap in direct entrepreneurial support by leveraging the expertise of SMEs in areas such as market research, storytelling, customer acquisition, supplier diversity and more.
• Project Boardup | The Startup Ladies ($40,000 award)
The Startup Ladies will identify, train and onboard executives with the capacity to serve on a startup board, and then match them to founders in need of startup advisors. Through collaboration with the Indy Black Chamber of Commerce and Indy Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, programming will target executives who wish to support businesses by serving as advisory board members owned by women, Black and LGBTQ+ founders.
• The Hardtech Innovators Network | Conexus Indiana ($22,500 award)
Conexus Indiana, an initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, plans to launch a statewide Hardtech Innovators Network to connect Indiana’s hardtech and hardware entrepreneurs with corporate innovators working within the advanced manufacturing and logistics industries. Conexus will target the Indianapolis, Bloomington, Lafayette, Terre Haute and Fort Wayne regions, partnering with various entrepreneurship service organizations (ESOs) in those communities to offer education and networking for Indiana’s hardtech innovators.
• VentureVets Scaling Success Program | VentureVets ($40,000 award)
VentureVets will curate a comprehensive technical assistance initiative for growth-stage companies in the construction sector led by veterans, military spouses and first responders. The program will also utilize industry experts to mentor and guide the participants and provide access to resources such as angel investors and venture capital funds.
SOUTHERN INDIANA
• Brookville Entrepreneurship Incubator (BEI) | Town of Brookville ($40,000 award)
The town of Brookville will host a three-part incubator to support new business starts in the community. Entrepreneurs will begin by participating in an eight-week program with Indiana SBDC then pitch in a Shark Tank style competition with new businesses competing for subsidized office space in Brookville’s downtown.
• Catalyst | Circular Venture Lab ($31,000 award)
Catalyst will serve founders in southwest Indiana with high-growth, scalable hardware and software startups in energy, healthcare, transportation and agriculture. The Catalyst team will mentor entrepreneurs and focus on value proposition, market assessment, resource maturity and license to operate during one-on-one meetings.
• Catalyzing Community & Connection | Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce ($11,850 award)
The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce will serve the growing ecosystem of entrepreneurs in Bartholomew County in an attempt to prevent founders from becoming siloed by the type of venture they are building. This program will feature a fall 2024 founder meet-up series, a spring 2025 founder meet-up series, and a culminating awards showcase for 13 meetups in total.
• Defense Innovation Statewide Roadshow | Defense Innovation Networking Group (D!NG) ($40,000 award)
Building on their initial success in the CCF pilot, Defense Innovation Networking Group (D!NG) will host a statewide Defense Innovation Roadshow. During this roadshow, there will be trainings, networking events, and one-on-one support for defense companies throughout the state.
• Emerge: Young Innovators Summit | Ripley County Community Foundation ($38,000 award)
The Ripley County Community Foundation, along with thirteen other community partners, will host Emerge – a one-day intensive entrepreneurship summit for high school students in a five-county area in southeastern Indiana. By the end of the day, students will have created a business model canvas, engaged with inspiring entrepreneurs from their community, and connected with business support resources like the Indiana SBDC and The STARTedUP Foundation.
• Georgetown Start-Up Funding | Town of Georgetown ($20,000 award)
The town of Georgetown will provide grants to four small businesses to start up or expand inside the town, with preference to locate in the historic and downtown districts. CCF funding will be matched by the town's facade grant to lower the starting costs for those looking to build and grow a business in Georgetown.
• Innovation Expo 2024 | Floyd County Government ($30,000 award)
Floyd County Government will host the Novaparke Innovation Expo. This expo is a series of programming that offers workshops and events in entrepreneurial areas of space, sustainability through life sciences, and artificial intelligence in relationship to manufacturing and hospitality.
• Main Street Corydon Business Assistance Program | Main Street Corydon ($40,000 award)
Main Street Corydon will offer rapid response grants to small businesses facing growth hurdles in inventory, business development, technology and equipment. These companies will also receive wraparound support from various community partners.
• Pantheon Future Founders: Igniting Innovation in Young Minds | The Pantheon ($40,000 award)
Pantheon Future Founders will curate a year-long program to prepare high school students for success in STARTedUP Foundation’s Innovate WithIN pitch competition. The program will offer students specialized training, community mentorship, ecosystem connections and experiential learning in partnership with local businesses.
• Render Angel Network (RAN) Powered by Maker13 | Maker13 ($40,000 award)
Maker13 and Render Capital will partner with the National Angel Capital Association and Venture Club of Indiana to build an angel network in the southeast Indiana region. The network will offer angel identification, education and deal flow to angel investors.
• SPARK Jackson County – FUEL | Jackson County Chamber ($40,000 award)
Jackson County Chamber will run a series of micro projects in the Jackson County Community to expand the SPARK program initially funded by the CCF pilot. These projects include a corporate-entrepreneur pitch competition, a middle school entrepreneurship program and an expansion of the TIME program into the
About IEDC
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) is charged with growing the State economy, driving economic development, and helping businesses launch, grow and locate in the state. Governed by a 14-member board chaired by Governor Eric J. Holcomb, the IEDC manages many initiatives, including performance-based tax credits, workforce training grants, innovation and entrepreneurship resources, public infrastructure assistance, and talent attraction and retention efforts. For more information about the IEDC, visit iedc.in.gov.
- 30 -
Media Contact: Nathan Brown (IEDC) – 317.586.1096 or nabrown1@iedc.in.gov