Why you should apply to the Philly Startup Leaders accelerator

Like many entrepreneurs, Seun Olubodun, a Philly native and Temple alum, had an idea, and now it is a reality. Meet his refined casual clothing store for men: Duke & Winston.

In the last year Olubodun has gone from selling T-shirts out of his Northern Liberties living room to a Rittenhouse Square retail space with over $35K in monthly revenue. Duke & Winston started when Olubodun took the plunge, left his stable tech job and sold his car to realize his vision.

His inspiration came from the success of companies like Johnny Cupcakes in Boston. The fact that custom clothing startup Teespring has raised over $56 million in funding illustrates the potential to grow a massively successful business based around a simple idea: T-shirts.

Duke & Winston focuses on high quality and short turnaround time for orders using Philly-area sources for manufacturing and distribution.

Olubodun’s next mission: grow D&W to the next level.

To get the help he needs, he’s looking to the local nonprofit Philly Startup Leaders. Olubodun wants to scale his brand’s online presence and knows big growth means leveraging technology. So he’s applying to the PSL Accelerator to help him tackle these challenges.

The 90-day accelerator — which takes no equity — provides promising startups with the community, mentorship and connections needed to accelerate. The program is built on the “For the Community, By the Community” ethos, led by local startup leaders like DuckDuckGo’s Gabriel Weinberg, RJMetrics’ Robert J. Moore and PSL President Rick Nucci all volunteering their time to build a stronger Philly.

Applications for the second accelerator class are due by Dec. 31. The program starts in February and concludes with an Investor Demo Day event as part of Philly Tech Week 2015.

Do you have an idea that’s ready to accelerate?