SAN ANTONIO – The Geekdom pre-accelerator program is giving six local startups an opportunity to learn from top tech leaders and investors for six weeks. It’s the second year San Antonio co-working space Geekdom is hosting this program.
“They work on pitches, business modeling, branding,” Joyce Deuley, program manager, said.
The goal of the program is to prepare local San Antonio startups for early-stage investments and accelerators.
“A pre-accelerator puts them in the motion of what are investors thinking about, what do you need to have lined up in your business and how do you present that in such a way that is going to tell your story, make sure that investors know that you can get returns on what they provide you?” Deuley said.
Kimberly Smith is participating in the program. She owns a local subscription box service for dogs and cats called Willie and Roo.
“Our primary focus is the health and happiness of your pet,” Smith said. “Providing a supplement that is chosen specifically for your pet based on their age, breed, any concerns you may have and then we send it to you at a monthly recurring bases.”
Smith is in the third week of the program.
“It's exciting because I can talk all day about what we do and why we do it, but in order to make it clear and concise and something that investors would be interested in, I need training on it,” Smith said.
“The pre-accelerators is another layer to the advancement that Geekdom and other local partners in the ecosystem have been working towards over the last eight years. This is something our community really needs,” Deuley said.
Next month at demo day, the teams will showcase what they’ve learned. Business organization Alamo Angels has agreed to invest $25,000 in the top performing team.
Geekdom launched the pre-accelerator program last year.