Resource Roundup: 2Gether-International just opened its spring cohort applications

2Gether-International’s spring cohort

After celebrating its 10th anniversary, DC-based accelerator 2Gether-International (2GI) is gearing up for a new cohort of founders.

The program just opened applications for its spring cohort, which has 5-10 slots available. The nine-week program, which will take place between March and May, is supported by the Small Business Administration and National Disability Institute. The cohort is focused on early-stage, high-growth tech startups from founders with disabilities. The programming closes with a pitch competition, where founders have the chance to win $10,000.

To qualify, startups must be led by at least one founder with a disability, have a product in the market and be able to attend classes, peer sessions, coaching and speaker series.

“We’re looking for tenacious, ambitious people who have a product in the market, even if it’s just an MVP,” 2GI’s Managing Director Keevin O’Rourke told Technical.ly. “Participants will benefit from our peer-to-peer and mentorship approach, as well as the connections that 2GI can set in motion for our cohort founders to potentially access additional capital to help grow their respective companies. We want the founders that we work with to see their disabilities as competitive advantages and proof of their relentlessness, rather than a weakness.”

Startup 101, SET Program from Betamore

Baltimore, Maryland’s Betamore Academy just opened applications for its Startup 101 program for early founders.

The program aims to teach new founders about early market validation, creating or perfecting the minimum viable product and obtaining first customers and sales. To qualify, founders need to be Maryland residents.

The cohort begins February 28 and will run through April. Classes will be held in person at the Center for Neighborhood Innovation at Betamore’s East Baltimore campus. The program is free to apply, but the 10 accepted founders will need to pay a $500 fee to participate in the program.

According to the program’s page, the ideal applicant is “a Baltimore-area entrepreneur with a business concept that they are actively pursuing or looking to pursue.”

In addition, Betamore Academy is accepting applications for its SET Program. For a $4,000 fee, eligible Maryland-based applicants can learn the basics of software development and leave the roughly five-month program ready to apply for developer positions. The program begins March 2.

FBLA’s Spring Social Innovation Challenge

The Reston, Virginia-based Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and financial software giant Intuit have opened applications for their Intuit Spring Social Innovation Challenge for high school students.

All FBLA members in both the US and Canada who are in high school are eligible to apply. Organizers hope that the challenge can help students think more critically about the ways that technology can support solving issues in their local communities. For this challenge, students are asked to create a project that will help make their schools more sustainable.

“We are excited to continue to partner with Intuit, providing FBLA members with this wonderful opportunity to showcase their talents, skills and innovative ideas,” said Alexander Graham, FBLA president and CEO, in a statement. “The Intuit Social Innovation Challenge is aligned with our mission of developing community-minded business leaders who will make a real difference in the world and ‘lead with a cause.’”

First-place team members will receive $5,000 each, second-place will receive $3,000 and third will receive $2,000 per member. Each of the winning teams will also get access to mentorship resources from Intuit that can help with their projects.