FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Email: Phone:
Evans McMillion
evans@757accelerate.org
757-376-9604

NORFOLK, VA (July 29, 2021) – 757 Accelerate is excited to announce the nine new companies in Cohort #4, our largest batch to date! These nine promising startups will hit the ground running for 757 Accelerate’s 13-week intensive startup program beginning August 30th. “We at 757 Accelerate are excited to support this incredible group of founders and leverage a deep bench of experienced founders, mentors, experts, customers, and regional ecosystem resources, to help their startups get further faster,” said Evans McMillion, 757 Accelerate’s Executive Director.

Largest cohort to date

With the recent GO Virginia grant award and the financial support of TowneBank, Activation Capital, Cox Communications, Ferguson Ventures, Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium and Mid-Atlantic Tech Bridge, we will provide $20,000 in non-dilutive capital to each company in the cohort. Cohort #4 will sit in the 757 Startup Studios offices within Assembly’s iconic campus for makers and creators with the 12 earlier stage startups already working in the Studios illustrating the exciting continuum of resources available in the Hampton Roads ecosystem. “Working in 757 Startup Studios with other startup founders has been instrumental for Frontline and participating in 757 Accelerate allows us to leverage the continuum of resources within the 757,” noted Kala Fleming, founder of Frontline Gig.

Besides driving results for its founders, 757 Accelerate is equally as excited about its continuing efforts to create an interconnected, inclusive, and impactful entrepreneurial ecosystem in Hampton Roads. “We continue to focus on building an inclusive ecosystem that supports the growth of all founders, including women, people of color, and military vets, and are excited that seven of the nine 757 Accelerate Cohort #4 companies have underrepresented founders on their teams,” said Monique Adams, 757 Angels Executive Director.

Attract and retain

With five Virginia companies (three from Hampton Roads), and four from outside of Virginia, 757 Accelerate is both a retention and attraction tool for innovative talent and regional business. “Ferguson Ventures is proud to sponsor 757 Accelerate’s efforts to attract and develop high-quality startups and talent to Hampton Roads, said Blake Luse, Manager Director at Ferguson Ventures and 757 Accelerates Board Chair. “Data continues to show that building a strong innovation economy with a density of quality tech talent will continue to transform the regional economy and fuel the post-COVID growth cycle,” added Luse.

MEET 757 ACCELERATE COHORT#4

After hundreds of hours, thirty-five reviewers selected the following nine, dynamic founding teams to join 757 Accelerate Cohort #4 starting August 30th:

AGED Diagnostics leverages genomic innovation to develop the most accurate, non-invasive testing for liver disease. AGED Diagnostics seeks to more easily and accurately identify the 1 in 3 Americans with undiagnosed liver disease thereby increasing accessibility to quality care, reducing the financial burden for insurers, and improving patient outcomes.

BetterWorld provides nonprofits with a free suite of easy-to-use online fundraising tools. Using auctions, raffles, ticketing, donations, crowdfunding — and more, organizations can sign up for free, start a campaign in minutes, and keep 100% of the dollars they raise.

FrontlineGig, is a faster and more cost-effective way for cities to deploy and manage litter collection crews. We use gig workers to fill the gaps left by full time staff, allowing the public sector to seamlessly scale up workers on demand, driving greater efficiency and optimization.

 

Grantable is building software to make grant writing faster and easier. Grantable’s AI and search features transform an organization’s existing proposals into a smart library that automates and simplifies applications to save time and increase revenue from grants.

 

Happyly is a corporate wellness app supporting physical and mental health for working parents (and their families) inspiring five-star family fun in under 60-seconds.

 

InovCares is a behavioral change platform for women, particularly women of color, that provides access and treatment to culturally sensitive clinicians. By combining real-time metabolic health data gathering capacity with telehealth, computer vision, artificial intelligence, patient engagement rewards, and a sense of community, InovCares is modernizing healthcare for women of color.

PaintJet is a technology-enabled service provider in the commercial and industrial painting market. The company uses AI and robotics to paint large surface areas, drastically reducing project costs and duration while improving the quality of the finished product. Specific focus sectors include large-scale industrial, commercial and marine applications.

 

Re:Public is a female, minority-led, SaaS mapping platform that prepares cities for the challenges presented by climate change. We are equipping and upskilling the public sector workforce with the tools to use their own data to contextualize hazards, mitigate risks, and prioritize investments.

 

Senior Runs is a web and mobile platform that provides a full-service mobility and care solution to aging adults who are transportation dependent and not fully independent requiring a professional caregiver to drive, escort, and assist them. We ensure aging adults with physical and cognitive vulnerabilities can navigate the world safely; overcome barriers to treatment and care to improve their overall health outcomes and lower the cost of healthcare.

About 757 Accelerate

757 Accelerate is a selective, mentor-driven startup program that provides promising founders $20,000 in capital without taking equity, connections to customized mentors, investors, and resources, as well as real customers to help validate their product and test their business model. Launched in 2018, 757 Accelerate is a nonprofit accelerator serving all of southeastern Virginia that aims to close the gaps in the Hampton Roads entrepreneurial ecosystem one startup at a time. To date, we have made a significant impact for both our alumni and our community as illustrated in our 2019 Impact Report. For more information, visit 757accelerate.org.

GO Virginia

This project was funded in part by GO Virginia, a state-funded initiative administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) that strengthens and diversifies Virginia’s economy and fosters the creation of higher wage jobs in strategic industries.