StitchCrew

Problem: Access to capital, resources and social networks continues to be one of the main barriers to entry for entrepreneurs. In fact, 80% of startups never access traditional loans and less than one percent ever raise venture capital. Furthermore, venture capital is exclusive to high-growth companies and is heavily concentrated in the coast. As if that wasn't bad enough, women only receive less than two percent and people of color less than one percent of VC.

Solution: A masterclass platform providing curated content, tools and resources for entrepreneurs that want to launch and scale their business in the middle of the country. 

At Scale: For one percent of new entrepreneurs coming into the market, we can expect to see a two percent decrease in poverty rates. If those entrepreneurs happen to be women or people of color the percentage decrease in poverty is twice reduced.

Access to capital, resources and social networks continues to be one of the main barriers to entry for entrepreneurs, particularly for entrepreneurs in the middle of the country. This is a big problem given that increasing the participation of entrepreneurs in the middle of the country is not a luxury but a dire need as traditional industries fade out and technology makes a large portion of our workforce obsolete with things like Artificial Intelligence and Automation.

Eighty percent of startups never access traditional loans and less than one percent ever raise venture capital. Furthermore, venture capital is exclusive to high-growth companies and is heavily concentrated in the coast with more than 80% being deployed in three states, CA, NY and MA. As if that wasn't bad enough, women only receive less than two percent and people of color less than one percent of VC.

Although there is a lot of wealth in the middle of the country, most LPs are used to investing in more traditional outlets like oil and gas, real estate, etc. Not startups. Those investing in early stage tend to do so by investing in Fund Managers located in the coast, that money often never comes back.

A streaming platform where anyone can learn how to launch and scale a business while accessing the tools, resources and networks entrepreneurs need in order to launch and scale their business in the middle of the country. Entrepreneurs get unlimited access to all curated content across different categories and can stream anytime, anywhere, at their own pace.  

The curriculum for each category will be designed around how to launch and scale startups and will include topics like: the different type of funding sources available, different types of business models, the importance of growing through revenue, pricing strategies, sales, growth channels, all the way to fundraising. 

The platform will also provide content for emerging fund managers wanting to launch a new fund in the middle of the country to fund early stage startups. In addition, we intend to partner with fund managers, funders and other organizations supporting entrepreneurs in the middle of the country so they can provide mentorship and be a source of possible funding for the entrepreneurs using our platform. 

Our solution will focus on supporting entrepreneurs in the middle of the country, particularly women and people of color. We also plan to partner with organizations located in very remote areas in rural counties who often lack the resources to support local entrepreneurs. Content will include interactive assignments and community activities and can be accessed at any time, be paused, fast-forwarded, or re-watched. In addition, entrepreneurs will be able to access a forum feature where they can interact with other entrepreneurs benefiting from peer-peer mentorship. 

We've been doing this for three years now. In partnership with our local NBA Team, the Oklahoma City Thunder we support twenty startups a year through our accelerator program. Since the launch of our program we've helped 61 startups, of which 90% are still alive, 85% have achieved recurring revenue and those who've gone on to raise funding have collectively raised more than $17 million dollars in just three years. Sixty five percent of those companies have been led by women or entrepreneurs of color. 

We've proven the model, now we just want to democratize access to more entrepreneurs across state border lines through our platform and by leveraging the connections we've already built. 

We aim to connect entrepreneurs in the middle of the country with a very intentional focus on women and people of color with the resources and networks they need to succeed. We have experience doing this, we are now just looking to scale our impact across state border lines through our platform.

Three Full-Time Staff

Three contractors 

StitchCrew is known for the work we do to ensure we increase the participation of women and people of color in both entrepreneurship and venture capital. Our Ted Talk: America's Trillion Dollar Blindspot, focuses on the funding gap, missed opportunity and importance of investing in women and people of color. Our Board of Directors is also very diverse with four women and four people of color. Our Co-Founding Team includes two Latinas. Furthermore the people we serve also reflect our intentionality, sixty five percent of the companies we've served are led by women and people of color. Last year we got the Mayors of three different cities to recognize Women's Entrepreneurship Day and we also launched a collective of more than 120 women entrepreneurs supporting each other. We also launched a podcast where we focused almost exclusively on highlighting the funding gaps that exists for women and people of color when it comes to entrepreneurship and venture capital.