Momentum

Momentum Business Accelerator Taking Applications For 2011 Program

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Momentum Business Accelerator Taking Applications For 2011 Program

GRAND RAPIDS – If you’d have a great web-based technology business idea, and you’d like to live in West Michigan for 12 weeks this summer, than the Momentum business accelerator program may be what you’re looking for. You can apply now for the 2011 program. Momentum is open to any entrepreneur in Michigan or beyond.

Each year Momentum invites five companies to participate in a 12-week summer bootcamp where they make initial investments of $20,000 and help them to build a functional prototype, test customer adoption, refine their business models and build a repeatable sales process. The program ends with a Demo Day where the companies get to demonstrate their wares to investors and people who can help take the companies to the next level. Momentum takes an 8 percent equity stake in each portfolio company.

Momentum, entering its third year, was founded by Rick DeVos, grandson of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos. Other partners include Pomegranate Studios, the creator of Grand Rapids Art Prize, and The Windquest Group, a management and investment company run by Rick’s father Dick DeVos.

“We are excited to continue investing in passionate people pursuing exciting ideas. In a state that oftentimes thinks about business as large and monolithic, Momentum is at the forefront of investing in small teams, in small amounts, for small windows of time”, said Rick DeVos. “We will continue our work supporting a grass roots entrepreneurial culture that quickly creates, validates, and scales new businesses.”

There are a couple of new wrinkles in the program this year. In 2011, Momentum is incorporating “Lean Startup” practices into its day-to-day programming. Lean Startup is a process developed by Steve Blank & Eric Reis, which uses agile development in tandem with customer development to test market assumptions. Teams will rapidly iterate and pivot based on early adopter feedback resulting in a product/market fit and early customers by the end of 12-week program.

“We believe in the Lean Startup approach because of its ability to get startup organizations focused on what customers do, not just what they say,” said Momentum’s Executive Director, Bill Holsinger-Robinson. “It’s about focusing on early testing of a business model, not spending time making guesses while writing a detailed business plans.”

Holsinger-Robinson also said this year, Momentum is accepting single applications from developers who are interested in working with start ups. For instance, a tech person with a great idea, but no business savvy would be paired up with another person who has the lacking business and marketing background.

“We will provide a resource for people to meet,” he said. “They would still have to prove that the team is acceptable to our program. But we’d do a little matchmaking.”

Momentum now has a portfolio of seven companies, five of which are still active and three who have raised additional funding.

Momentum’s 2009 inaugural program funded three start-ups –Public Collections, Revetto and Downstream. Downstream recently secured $200K in funding from the Michigan Pre-seed Fund and the Lakeshore Advantage Seed Capital Fund.

Momentum’s 2010 program launched Varsity News Network, JaiPlace, TerraPerks and Learning Interfaces. Learning Interfaces was recently selected as one of 15 educational teams out of over 1,400 applicants nationwide to participate in the five-month Kauffman Labs Education Ventures Program sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation. The award will provide a total of $100,000 in salary compensation and over twice that value in in-kind services which include two months of training at Kauffman headquarters in Kansas City, and a three-month “immersion program” whereby each participant shadows and works with leading educational entrepreneurs across the United States.

“We’re still focused on the iteration phase of business,” Holsinger-Robinson said. “These entrepreneurs may not have a prototype, but just an interesting idea. And all they need is some head space to focus on it. That’s what the $20,000 investment is all about.”

Momentum also is returning to the emphasis it had in its first year on new technology for web-only spaces. Last year’s participate, Learning Interfaces, would be an example of the types of companies Momentum is looking to invest.

If you think you have what it takes to join Momentum, you start with a written application and video pitch, due on February 5th, followed by a submitted pitch deck and in-person interviews. The Momentum vetting committee will review the applications and contact the top candidates in early March. The selected applicants must be prepared to come to West Michigan for in-person interviews during the week of March 22. Participants will be required to move to the greater Grand Rapids area by May 9th. Housing assistance and office space will be provided.

Added Holisinger-Robinson: “It’s a simple application process. If you go through the process alone, a new entrepreneur can learn a lot. We have a thriving advisor community. If you have the resource, time and inclination, we’d love to get you involved. “It’s all about creating the seeds of the right kind of environment to have entrepreneurship flourish in West Michigan. Michigan, on the whole, is under capitalized. And we offer entrepreneurs a low cost of living and of doing business.”

For more information, click on Momentum-MI.Com

Author: Mike Brennan
Source: MITechNews.Com