Called the Founder Institute, the Silicon Valley-based accelerator was founded in 2009 and has grown to have 200 chapters in cities all over the globe. Partnering with the local nonprofit that exists to support Black technologists and founders was a no-brainer, said Juan Lacy, chief managing director of the program’s Pittsburgh chapter.
“It would be a big mistake to not work with Black Tech Nation since they’re right here in our backyard,” Lacy told Technical.ly. “We actually meet with them every other week, right now on Saturdays over in the waterfront shopping mall, in the COhatch workspace, where we’re working on some projects.”
The two entities are trying to find ways to create an ecosystem to grow tech businesses with diverse leadership in Mon Valley communities.
Before he joined the Founder Institute, Lacey was founder and CEO of Farms Close By, a McKeesport-based agriculture company. He’s relying on that experience to help run a program that mentors other founders — and connects entrepreneurs directly with capital.
“The added advantage of us working with somebody to start a business is that we can set you up so that you’re much more easily funded through a venture capital group that we also have a hand in getting started,” Lacy said.
In addition to Black Tech Nation, Lacey hopes to have the Founding Institute chapter collaborate with other local programs interested in supporting marginalized founders. The goal: lead a program that makes a conscious effort to reach out to marginalized people both in terms of hiring staff for startups, as well as helping them get their companies off the ground
“Usually, companies go through an accelerator program and then their launch — and they don’t know where they’re going to get the funding from,” Lacy said. “We have a whole host of venture capital groups all over the globe that are going to be looking at somebody who comes through the program.”
The accelerator itself offers 14 weeks of programming on how to start businesses and startups, which includes access to partners, sponsors, and mentors such as Ilana Diamond, Catherine Mott, and Kit Needham.
Although the Pittsburgh chapter launched 6 years ago, the pandemic stalled its initial progress, Lacy said. Now, thanks to partnerships with Alpha Lab Gear, the Pittsburgh Technology Council, BlueTree Capital and others, he hopes that will soon change.
Lacy wants entrepreneurs to know that the institute is always ready to partner with founders willing to do the work.
“Anybody who is looking to do startups within their four walls, especially in the life sciences area,” Lacy said. “We can now assist them. We also can take our program into any college or university, we can partner up with them. And that’s something that’s brand new.”
Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.Join our growing Slack community
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