Tandem Product Academy wants 20 NoVa tech companies to join its next cohort

The Tandem Product Academy is looking to fill its next cohort with 20 existing tech companies in Northern Virginia that are pivoting their business models to make it through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The free academy was launched by the Tandem Innovation Alliance, which supports startups developing a tech product-based business.

The Tandem Product Academy offers educational programming focused on topics such as organizational development, product strategy and vision, leadership and talent. The teaching team is comprised of faculty from Marymount University and local tech entrepreneurs and investors including Elizabeth Shea, Jonathan Aberman, Mark Walsh and others.

“We want to help a group of promising technology businesses find their best opportunities to pivot what they have built into a market that will be rewarding for the current economy and what’s next,” said Aberman, founder of innovation consulting firm Amplifier Advisors, in a press release.

Tandem will help businesses in this upcoming cohort find a sustainable business model to continue to grow through the global crisis. The cohort will be led by a partnership with Amplifier Advisors, George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis and the Marymount Intrapreneurship Initiative.

The program is funded by GoVirginia, a bipartisan business-led economic development initiative launched by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“The region needs more than innovation — it needs inclusive, diversified innovation,” Fairfax County Economic Development Corporation CEO Vistor Hoskins said. “By helping Northern Virginia technology companies adapt and pivot their businesses to new opportunities, the Tandem Product Academy will grow our economy in new ways and position all of us for a better future.”

The program begins on Oct. 21 and will operate virtually for all classes over a four-month period. Interested participants must be senior leaders of a business in NoVa that had a tech product with achievement of some commercial adoption. You can find more details on its website about the application criteria and how to apply.