pre-accelerator (it takes a Village)
APPLY FOR ITV15 (Spring 2025) HERE
The Mission
It Takes A Village is Atlanta Tech Village’s diversity and inclusion initiative which emphasizes the importance of supporting diverse perspectives and inclusive work environments in technology. We believe an entire community with different skill sets, backgrounds, and cultures is needed to produce the most productive and innovative companies.
Key Takeaways
Mentorship – Gain valuable information and feedback from Atlanta Tech Village’s mentors and advisors on a weekly basis.
Exposure – Give you the opportunity to advance your company by tapping into Atlanta Tech Village’s extensive network.
Validation – Help you find product market fit through a series of Lesson Labs led by startup experts.
Our Pledge
We pledge to have honest and open conversations about how we can work together to support startups and organizations led by women and people of color. From this pledge, our Pre-Accelerator was born.
Our Pre-Accelerator
Atlanta Tech Village’s It Takes A Village Pre-Accelerator Program gives startups led by women and people of color the opportunity to gain direct access to community, education, mentorship, and capital.
This program is a pre-accelerator that will help diverse founders hurdle any obstacles preventing them from getting to the next level by providing space to work with like-minded individuals, advice from seasoned professionals, and educational workshops to strengthen skills.
At the end of this 4-Month Program, our goal is to get participating startups a seed investment, pilot with an enterprise company, and/or spot in an accelerator program.
Community Support and Celebration
In conclusion of the program, we celebrate participating Founders who have successfully graduated from the program with pitches in front of Atlanta’s startup ecosystem while giving startups the opportunity to demo their products.
Founders will get 4 minutes to pitch and a designated table for attendees to mix and mingle with potential customers, investors, and tech influencers in the southeast. (We also know how to have a good time.)
Spring 2025 Cohort Schedule
Eligibility for this program:
- Woman and/or Person of Color
- Have a functional product: MVP, beta or launched (Past idea stage)
- Raised less than $150K
- Technology focused company with proprietary software
- Work from the Village a minimum of 2 Days a week
- No A$$holes – kind and supportive people only
Benefits
- Community of like-minded entrepreneurs
- Membership at Atlanta Tech Village
- Mentorship and Advisement
- Lesson Labs: Rich curriculum centered around in-depth topics relating to growing a sustainable business
- In-Depth Customer Discovery Curriculum
- Amenities: Events, fitness gym, free bi-weekly lunches, 24/7 access to the building
Program Alumni
Check out all the graduates from the Pre-Accelerator. Combined, this group has generated $480K+ in seed investments and generated $1.9M in revenue.
14th Cohort: Andrea Furtick - AGC Toys Inc., David-Michael Ajudua - Aiazing, Sugju Choi - Bubble Date, Meg Herlihy - Indaago Data, Nigel Stewart - Mission2Motivate, Nadine Ruecker - My Data Unlocked, Lillania Shah - Poolerz, Janessa Ferrell - QuestRead, Robert Foster - Shot Makers League, Akash Patel - SkyAlpha Ventures LLC
13th Cohort: Smitha Kommareddi - Streamify Livecommerce Inc, Fritz Valsaint - WiiTrak Inc., Benjamin Tan - Psyntel, Adrian Lozano Jr. - Hack Latino, Kristin Bell - ReviewTailor, Sheila Maithel - Brillist Better Projects, Keylem Collier - Aayats, Carrie McKinnon - 28ish
12th Cohort: Sarah Lawrence - TallyMade, Torrence Mays - Vehiki, Kathryn Farrell - Scopa Health, Lakshmi Jayanthi - Pickup Sports, Dominique Davis - DeliveryOnMe, Elizabeth Penn - Grapes
11th Cohort: Bryanna Marshall – Carit, Alannah Debruce – SingularityMD, Alim Charaniya – Ambitious App, Jessica Thomas – Wish For Yellow, Precious Price – LANDRIFT, Jordon Campbell – Chvlri, Verlyn Foley – DoleUpp, Rhiannon Vaugh – Writing With Spirit
10th Cohort: Alice Thacker – Gatsby, Crystal Osner – ReCo Grocery, Dedren Snead – Games4Grades, Kai Tan – Rev Match, Kristian Latiker – Caped, J. Labron Anderson – NuNeighbor, Patricia Marsh – Show Me Your M.D.
9th Cohort: Sebastian Builes – Arcum, Anthony Joiner – Blooksy, Gerald Carter – Destined AI, Rodeline Joseph – Medsembly, Eddie Legrand-Sawyer – Players Club, Karishma Babu – Upspeed, Elkanah Reed – Workopti
8th Cohort: Christian Ross – Happy Talks, Chris Faison – Blank, Avani Patel – CFO 360, Vincent Johnson – Coupify, Joe Hamilton – Bacchus, Omarie Mann – Rush The Line, Presley Agbure – Fr8bukyn Rekemo Fung-A-Wing – Cartet
7th Cohort: Timothy Fields – BESN, Amy Hollibaugh – Cul De Sac, Eban Bisong – Creative Critique, Dalero Berkley- MaverickIQ, Arsed “Sed” Joseph – StageWing, Marsha Jean-Louis – Stream Suites, Saurav Bhandari – TaxZen, Samuel Austin Evans – Very Individual Protection Services (VIP), Rejoice Jones – Vower
6th Cohort: Ashleigh Esprit The Studio Social, Andy Okala – Tuggo,
Tara Geigh – Romp and Tumble, Joel Nkounkou – ecoText.co, JT Liddell – promenade.ai, Fahim Faisal – MealBrowse
5th Cohort: Cesar Flores – HearthMates, Trellis Usher – Nova Health Labs, Thomas Clifton – Metriqq, Candice Jordan – Love Home, Bobby Gilbert – FundStory, Brandon Winfield – iAccess Life, Ashley Richardson – My Totem
4th Cohort: Baiyana Jihad – Beyond The Classroom, Jibril Sulaiman – Incluzion, Lauren Longo – Talli, Kaitlin Lutz – NewCrew, Edwin Williams – Perserbid, Tori Madison – For Good, Jahari Soward – My eSTEAM Kits, Anthony Colbert – My Study Goals, Chelcie Scott – BuildMe, Kristen Hooper – Relativly
3rd Cohort: Danielle Major – Smart Convos, Inc., Niesha Butler – ScrapSports, Dana James – Construwise, Justina Olatunde Davis – Omode’ Play and Create, Umama Kibria – Sweat Pack, Stefanie Jewett – Activvely, Dumarkus Davis – Musicbuk, Ariam Sium – Click-A-Shift, Connor Ford – Spirit
2nd Cohort: Richard Bailey – GrpFit, DeShawn Stevenson – OurErrands, Carolyn Pitt – Film Connx LLC, Lundyn Carter – Laine London, Tiffany Gaines – Laine London, Jerica Richardson – HackOut Ninja, Daniel Santos – HackOut Ninja, Brandon Evans – Cryptopedia/Renaissance Labs, Cloe Guidry – Hire Ground, Christiannah Oyedeji – Trymyfab, Ifrah Khan – Usit – On Demand Babysitting App, Sheehan Khan – Airlift
1st Cohort: Robert Hatcher – Aurign, Aaron Petty – Mitivate, John Thomas – RedBag Gifts, Ify Ifebi – Vendorspace, Wilkinson Egwu – LawnTap, Glen Williams – LocalCity, Karthik Puvvada – Closing Page, Vishal Kumar – Closing Page, Barbara Jones – Freeing Returns, Jessica Goodwin – MomSquad, David Hailey – Countalytics, Rob McFadden – Countalytics, Lisa Jones – EyeMail