On Thursday, Feb. 27,
the Brandery, the
Over-the-Rhine-based startup accelerator, will play host to
Venture for America’s 2014 Cincinnati Launch event. Modeled after Teach for America, Venture for America provides a path for entrepreneurship to college grads, placing them with emerging startups and early-stage companies in lower cost cities such as Cincinnati,
Detroit, Providence, R.I. and New Orleans for two years.
Venture for America (VFA) has now recruited two classes (2012, 2013) of “fellows," with the Cincinnati fellows representing a variety of startups in the Cincinnati area including
Roadtrippers,
Lisnr,
Bioformix,
Cintrifuse,
OneMorePallet and several others. With VFA’s Cincinnati Launch, they will be looking to add to this list, seeking additional partner companies with which to place their 2014 fellows.
Jason Tarre, startup partnerships manager for VFA, will be in town to preside over the event, where current VFA partners and fellows will also be in attendance.
“We have two VFA fellows working with us,” says James Fisher, co-founder and CEO of Roadtrippers. “Chelsea (Koglmeier) and Matt (Fulton) are two of the most focused and driven young graduates I have come across. I don’t say that lightly.”
“I started at the Brandery then at Roadtrippers, both under the VFA umbrella,” says Chelsea Koglmeier, operations manager at Roadtrippers. “When I got the job at Brandery, I thought this was the coolest job anyone could ask for after college. Now honestly, I feel even luckier to have the job at Roadtroppers, with a team that I believe in and a product that is amazing. I hit the ground running significantly faster because of my training with VFA.”
Before being placed at a company, VFA fellows go through a five-week training camp that covers everything from the basics of using Excel and creating websites to learning how startups and investment works, meeting with venture capitalists and more.
“One of the most important things VFA has given us is a framework,” Koglmeier says. “Now, as we go through the system, we have this network of highly motivated, connected individuals who each have different types of intelligences and are used to performing at extremely high levels. That network is huge and allows us progress and continue building new relationships.”
Venture for America’s 2014 Cincinnati Launch event will take place Thursday, Feb. 27 at noon at the Brandery.
By Mike Sarason
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