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The Flywheel Foundation administers accelerators and bootcamps to help you get started on your entrepreneurial journey. We have amazing programming to get you started on your entrepreneurial journey. Get ideas. Get exposure. Get funded. Get going. Get started.

New Ventures Tech Accelerator logo

New Ventures Tech Accelerator

    • 1-3 Companies selected per year (per region)
New Ventures participant Hay Trabajo

Designed for early-stage founders who do not have a technical cofounder, New Ventures Tech Accelerator is a services-based tech accelerator that will offer $50,000 worth of free software and business development for Greater Charlotte Region and Triad Region tech startups.

The program is operated under the Flywheel New Ventures accelerator framework with the software development firms Induro and Sightsource, LLC providing the tech acceleration services. It includes a free residency at the Cabarrus Center or Flywheel (Winston-Salem) for selected companies as well as the opportunity to enter the New Ventures equity-based investment network.

The application site for interested founders is open year-round. Applications will be reviewed quarterly and up to three companies per year will be selected for acceleration and incubation.

    F6S Network Partner logo
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    Open Runway logo

    Open Runway

    • Average 75 applicants per year
    Open Runway participants

    Open Runway is an acceleration-on-demand program offering one-on-one matching of needs with developmental and capital opportunities. This is a year-round rolling application program where companies can apply for design sprints and individual investment asks. In addition, the program provides services for corporate innovation programs. 

    Retail Lab logo

    Retail Lab

    • Average 30 applicants per cycle
    • Offered in the Spring and Fall

    The Retail Lab serves early-stage retail business owners and was developed in our Concord location at the Cabarrus Center. It is an application-based, six-week immersive boot camp.

    The program curriculum was refined after survey results of pilot program launched in Fall 2021 to hone in on the needs of early-stage retailers (brick and mortar or e-commerce) in the areas of retail products, retail services, and retail food and beverage products.

    Following completion of the Boot Camp, participants are given the opportunity to pitch for available grant funding.

    Spark logo

    Spark Bootcamps

    • One cycle per year
    • Average 25 applicants
    Lean Startup Practices Course on Flywheel.Courses.com
    One of the most important and effective ways to stimulate scalable startups is through non-dilutive starter grants that attract entrepreneurs and provide enough capital to motivate founders with ideas to work on customer validation and proof of concept.

    The Spark program responds with an application-based process, six-week bootcamp, and opportunity to pitch for micro-grants. All applicants are required to enroll for free in the instructor-led “Applied Lean Startup Practices” on www.flywheel.courses.com in order to qualify for the grants. Through the course, applicants learn how to move ideas to repeatable revenue models as quickly as possible.