Endeavor is launching its 2021 Scale Up program for entrepreneurs in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. In partnership with EY, Scale Up is a non-dilutive growth accelerator that supports high-potential, fast-growth entrepreneurs by giving access to the resources, successful founders, and mentors in Endeavor’s regional network to scale to the next level. In 2021, there will be two cohorts of the Scale Up program: from February to June, and from August to December.
Scale Up Program
Through Endeavor’s 5-month Scale Up program, entrepreneurs will receive direct mentorship from current Endeavor Entrepreneurs, Board Members, and Mentors. To kick off the program, entrepreneurs will complete GrowthX’s Product Market Fit Workshop to assess their go-to-market strategy. Entrepreneurs will also receive an in-depth Financial Review from EY and be able to access the 7 Driver’s of Growth assessment through EY Velocity. Finally, Scale Up Entrepreneurs will pitch at the Scale Up Acceleration Panel to receive tactical, meaningful feedback from a group of top regional mentors.
Leading regional organizations, including InnovateMap (Indianapolis), Thompson Hine LLC (Cincinnati), On Plane Consulting (Louisville), VentureFirst (Louisville, Cincinnati), and GrowthX (Nashville, San Francisco) will provide mentoring to Scale Up entrepreneurs through the program.
In 2020, 16 entrepreneurs from eight companies completed the Scale Up program: EZ Chow (Louisville), FlyWire Cameras (Lexington), AuthentiCx (Indianapolis), Continuud (Indianapolis), Home Team (Cincinnati), GoWild (Louisville), Selfless.ly (Indianapolis), and Level Up (Louisville). The program generated 125+ hours of mentorship, and included workshops from West Ventures, Dell for Startups, and others. Cumulatively, the Scale Up 2020 companies raised over $4M of funding and achieved more than $3M in revenue in 2020. The end goal of Scale Up is to accelerate the growth of high-potential entrepreneur-led businesses and further Endeavor’s mission of scaling up, going big, and giving back.
Apply for Scale Up 2021
Applications for Endeavor’s 2021 Scale Up programs are now open online on a rolling basis. The application deadline for the first cohort in 2021 is January 15th, 2021. Entrepreneurs and founders of high-potential, fast-growth companies across Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio are encouraged to apply here.
Endeavor will select companies based on their global selection criteria:
- Entrepreneur: founders willing to learn, listen, and grow from feedback, entrepreneurs committed to going big and giving back
- Business: high-growth companies with the potential to be the next regional success story with an exponential impact
- Timing: post-revenue companies in any industry, typically Seed to Series A stage with ideally $1M-$3M in annual revenue
The cost of the program is $3,000 per company (a 501(c)3 deductible donation) and 50% of Scale Up slots are prioritized for companies with a female or minority founder.
About Endeavor
Established in 1997, Endeavor is leading the global high-impact entrepreneurship movement to drive economic growth and job creation by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best high-impact entrepreneurs around the world. To date, Endeavor has screened more than 60,000 individuals and selected more than 2,000 founders leading over 1,200 scale-up companies. With support from Endeavor’s worldwide mentor network, Endeavor Entrepreneurs have created over 4.1 million jobs, generate more than $24 billion in revenue each year, and inspire future generations to innovate and take risks, building strong entrepreneurship ecosystems in growth markets. Headquartered in New York City, Endeavor currently operates in 35+ growth markets throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.
