Many of you have probably already heard of Constant Contact’s Small Business Innovation Program, our new accelerator program designed to help entrepreneurs and start-ups developing solutions for small businesses. Our doors opened for the first class at the beginning of the summer (doors which open up into the InnoLoft, our new 30,000 sq. ft. state of the art office space in Waltham, MA), and we have been working hard to help bolster the startups’ success since.
As we enter the final month of the first class, we just wanted to provide a little more information on some of the different ways the inaugural class of startups was able to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the InnoLoft:
• From finance to PR, the startups received guidance from Constant Contact’s wide range of departments and teams. The ability to tap into this larger wealth of resources was a boon for the smaller companies looking to scale.
• The startups could participate in Design Sprints: week-long intensive training led by Constant Contact’s innovation team and focused on helping the startups in specific areas of their business.
• The ability to be in the same office space as other entrepreneurs gave everyone in the class a group of like-minded innovators to bounce ideas off of.
• We were also excited to see how easily the startups were able to integrate with our Constant Contact culture. While sharing our passion for helping small businesses succeed certainly didn’t hurt (and neither did the free coffee and beer!), all of the startups seemed at very much at home as part of the Constant Contact family.
This is all in addition to the free office space, priority access to Constant Contact’s open source API, counsel and mentorship from the angel and venture communities, access to TestDrive – a group of small businesses that have opted-in to test out the new and innovative solutions that the startups have been working on, and $10,000 for marketing initiatives!
While we’re sad that we will soon have to let these amazing group of brilliant people go, we’re also excited to announce that we’re now taking applications for our second class, scheduled to begin on February 1.
So if you or someone in your professional network is working on an incredible idea that will help small businesses, or is part of a start-up working on solutions that can leave a positive impact on the small business market, we want to hear from you!
Check out more information and apply for the second class at http://smbinnoloft.com/
If you are in San Francisco on Thursday, October 23, register to attend Innovation Program open house event in our San Francisco office – RSVP here.
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