EforAll, a local nonprofit, was accepted into Techstars Accelerate Equity Program due to their work with underrepresented communities in the entrepreneurial sector.
Caroline Hafele, executive director of EforAll, said the company supports aspiring small business owners in the local community by providing access to education, mentorship and seed funding, so they can not only launch, but sustain their small businesses.
“In Longmont we have worked with 55 businesses and 75% are female owned, 65% are BIPOC owned and 55% are immigrant owned,” Hafele said.
The services that EforAll provides are completely free for entrepreneurs, which leads to a pretty intense selection process. Entrepreneurs must apply then go through a series of interviews and reviews. Once this process is completed and they are approved they are paired with two to three mentors, whom they meet with on a weekly basis for three months and a monthly basis for nine months.
The entrepreneurs also take classes twice a week to learn the nuts and bolts of running their own business and how to sustain that business themselves.
“It's divided into three different major sections. The first part is defining who your customer is and really making sure that there is a market need, and how your product or service can answer that. So really developing a value proposition. The second is the nuts and bolts of your business, everything from building a budget to tracking expenses and forecasting. The third is taking your product or service to market,” Hafele said.
When entrepreneurs leave these classes Hafele hopes that they gain some confidence, know-how and networks to really sustain their business.
“A lot of the entrepreneurs that we work with haven’t had the opportunity to have formal business training in the past or might have a language barrier or might have cultural barriers that we are really trying to break down,” Hafele said.
Due to their work with underrepresented populations, EforAll was not only nominated, but accepted into Techstars Accelerate Equity Program which creates a more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“So they’re identifying nonprofits like EforAll that are doing the work on the ground, and the models have been proven and could really use the support and networks that Techstars have already established, how they can really amplify the impacts that we are looking to provide on the ground,” Hafele said.
Techstar is helping EforAll raise funds for this quarter by matching 20% of all funds raised to support EforAll.
Hafele is excited to keep exploring this partnership and opportunity as donations from the community are crucial to keep their services free for the entrepreneurs.
“Really just being able to have the backing and validation and support of our model from a program like Techstars really is an honor to be able to tap into that network and get the guidance and support from people who have been successful entrepreneurs all around the world,” Hafele said.
Hafele said EforAll hopes to raise $50,000 this quarter, in order to extend this program with Techstars for an entire year.
“We’re really looking to build a more inclusive and integrated Longmont, that’s the vision for us,” Hafele said.
