Applications now open for It Takes a Village Pre-Accelerator Cohort #10!
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.

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.
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.

Graduation Party ????
In conclusion of the program, we celebrate participating Founders who have successfully graduated from the program with pitches in front Atlanta’s startup ecosystem while giving startups the opportunity to demo their products.
Founders will get 3 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 have a pretty darn good time.
Program Alumni
Check out all the graduates from the Pre-Accelerator. Combine this group has generated $480K+ in seed investments and generated $1.9M in revenue.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Eligibility for this program:
- Woman 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 weekly lunches, 24/7 Access to the building
Spring ‘22 Cohort Schedule |
|
Applications Open | November 17th |
Applications Close | December 8th |
Founders Selected | December 20th |
Start of Program | January 10th |
Graduation Party | April 27th |