Resources to Accelerate Your Growth

Business Equity Initiative (BEI) was developed to help accelerate the growth of local enterprises of color and to directly impact the increase of job opportunities and wealth creation at the neighborhood level. They are focused on Black and Latinx businesses because that is where the wealth disparity is greatest, and BEI is set to make the biggest impact possible.

The Cambridge Food Lab’s mission is to foster and support food entrepreneurs in Massachusetts and to create sustainable food jobs for low-income Cambridge residents. The Cambridge Food Lab aims to bridge communities through food, cooking, and entrepreneurship.

CommonWealth Kitchen is Boston’s only nonprofit food business incubator and food manufacturing social enterprise. CWK provides shared kitchens combined with robust business assistance and accelerator programs to help aspiring entrepreneurs build great food companies, create jobs, improve healthy food access, and strengthen the regional food economy. CWK supports 50+ entrepreneurs including food trucks, caterers, bakers, packaged foods and drink companies. Over 70% of our member businesses are owned by women and/or people of color and immigrants.

Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll|EparaTodos) is accelerating economic and social impact through entrepreneurship in mid-sized cities. At EforAll, they have developed an innovative small business/nonprofit accelerator to foster entrepreneurial growth in the communities they serve.

Harvard iLab is an innovation ecosystem that exists to support Harvard students and alumni in their quest to explore the world of game-changing entrepreneurship. Through a network of highly-curated advisors and mentors, peer collaboration and interaction, and comprehensive resources and programming support, Harvard iLab works to unleash the innovative power of individuals.

Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) is a national program designed by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) to help small businesses in economically-distressed areas build capacity for sustainable growth in revenue, profitability, and employment. Designed for busy executives of all expertise levels, our tuition-free program provides capacity-building education, one-on-one coaching, networking and connections to capital providers. Participants are independent organizations, past start-up and survival stage, and based in an economically-distressed area.

Mass Innovation Nights (MIN) offers an opportunity for people interested in innovative new products to connect live and online. Over the past ten years, it has helped launch more than 1,200 new products, which have collectively received more than $3 billion in funding.

MassChallenge strengthens the global innovation ecosystem by accelerating high-potential startups across all industries from anywhere in the world for zero-equity taken. MassChallenge works to re-prioritize impact and to put value creation at the heart of the global economy.

One Million Cups, BU is a free program designed to educate, engage and inspire entrepreneurs around the country.

Smarter in the City is working to raise the percentage of high-impact minority entrepreneurs in Boston through a 5-month rigorous program. The program is geared to early stage businesses, and provides entrepreneurs with stipends, workspace, a mentorship program, and other restheces to help their idea off the ground.

Built by the number one school in the world for entrepreneurship, the Babson College Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab® is a five-month accelerator program providing women entrepreneurs with an inspiring community and a rigorous, experiential process that catalyzes innovative thinking and enables them to successfully scale their businesses. Created by the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL), the WIN Lab provides content, expertise, role models and coaching to empower female founders to think big and reach their entrepreneurial potential.

Venturewell is creating a pipeline of inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs driven to solve the world’s biggest challenges and to create lasting impact. they foster collaboration among the best minds from research labs, classrooms, and beyond to advance innovation and entrepreneurship education and to provide unique opportunities for STEM students and researchers to fully realize their potential to improve the world.

xcelerateBOS is a network and program designed to help minority creative business get to market and thrive. xcelerateBOS builds minority wealth and ownership focused on community entrepreneurship and funding.