In January 2022, The Roux Institute at Northeastern University announced four companies that would take part in its Founder Residency, a program designed to support and invest in female, BIPOC, rural, and veteran early-stage entrepreneurs. Cohort A consists of: 

• Ackeem Evans and Jermaine Hartsfield, Election Bridge
• Melissa LaCasse, Tanbark Molded Fiber Products
• Helkin Berg, Hey Freya
• Yousof Naderi, Kaushik Chowdhury, and Ufuk Muncuk, DeepCharge Inc.
• “The Roux Institute was created by design to propel the start-up ecosystem in Maine,” said Topaz Smith, Founder Residency Manager at The Roux Institute.

“The Roux Institute was created by design to propel the start-up ecosystem in Maine,” said Topaz Smith, Founder Residency Manager at The Roux Institute. “It’s our goal to create innovation for the tech community here and to help establish and partner with those who are already creating it, ensuring it’s embedded within the state for the future of our economy. The Founder Residency, however, was created to make sure no one is left behind.”

The four companies, which are developing solutions in women’s health, civic engagement, eco-friendly manufacturing, and intelligent wireless charging, represent four states across the U.S., including Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Georgia. Each team of Founders received a $25,000 stipend provided by philanthropic donors to use as needed to help build their ventures, whether that’s to support living costs or to put into the business.

At the end of the year-long program, Founders deliver a capstone-like pitch on what their company has accomplished since entering the residency. 

“We’ve already seen one company raise $1.7 million, another company was featured in Forbes, and another has hosted events with city councils in major metropolitan areas,” added Smith. “Our Founders are partnering with large-scale national nonprofits. They’re not only seeing growth and success, they’re making a difference.”

Developing Entrepreneurial Skills

Beginning on an entrepreneurial endeavor – whether it’s your first or your fifteenth – begins with a host of challenging questions. How much capital is necessary to get this off the ground? How will we raise the funds to make this successful? How much product do we need? How are we going to reach our target audience? The overarching question that looms over every entrepreneur, however, is how are we actually going to do this?

“We’ve learned a lot in terms of building a start-up from the ground level,” said Jermaine Hartsfield, who, along with Ackeem Evans, is a co-founder of the civic engagement app Election Bridge. “The Founder Residency has helped us develop the tools to scale it up, and the opportunity to meet proven people who have start-ups that have been brought to market or sold them.”

Throughout the first phase of the program, Smith works one-on-one with each of the companies to help them develop their strategies, working with Founders to build out a plan to scale over the next five years. Founders also work closely with mentor teams, which are made up of subject matter experts who are assigned based on the company’s goals and needs.

From there, Smith facilitates workshop sessions along with seasoned professionals in areas including marketing, hiring, or financials. Recently, the Founders had the opportunity to take part in a four-session course on design thinking, which would usually cost around $10,000. For the Founders, it was free.   

For Melissa LaCasse, co-founder of Tanbark Molded Fiber Products, which manufactures custom, sustainable molded fiber packaging, the Founder Residency has been one of the key pieces to developing her business, working in tandem with Maine Venture Fund, The Maine Angels, and SCORE.

“All of these programs were set up to help a company like mine figure out how to start, how to raise funds, how to go to the next step, and how to build that strategic plan,” LaCasse said. “The Founder Residency has offered me workshops and access to information that is so hard to find on your own.” 

Building Connections

For a budding business, there’s arguably nothing more important than networking and creating strong connections with those who can assist you along your journey, whether it’s financially or through sound advice. Through the program, Founders are not only connecting with faculty and staff at The Roux Institute who can offer guidance, but also with investors who are willing to support their endeavors.    

“The program gives you access to networks, but also access to networks with the credibility of The Roux institute behind you,” said LaCasse, who, through the Founder Residency, has connected with Northeastern University’s Head of Advanced Manufacturing and Head of A.I. “There are people at The Roux Institute who have been through what we’re going through, on your best days and on your worst days. Having the ability to go to them and get their unvarnished feedback has been incredibly beneficial.” 

For some, like Atlanta-base Election Bridge, the Founder Residency has opened up entire new regions and audiences to whom they can introduce their app. “The Founder Residency has given us the opportunity to collaborate with partners throughout Maine and within the Northeastern University ecosystem,” said Ackeem Evans, who co-founded the app. “Those connections have helped us develop more pilots and continue to grow the reach of our platform.”

Then, of course, there’s the camaraderie that comes along with being a cohort, talking through what has been working well, what hasn’t been coming together as they had expected, and leaning on those experiences to help each other grow. Simply knowing that there are others going through the exact same experience right beside you has been an important part of the experience.

“Entrepreneurship is a super lonely process,” added LaCasse. “I cannot imagine having gone through this without the other companies that were in the Founder Residency.”

What’s Next for Founders

All of the companies within the Founder Residency have come a long way since they first began the program, but they’re also aware that their journeys have just begun. Election Bridge has launched and gained traction in Metro Atlanta, and they’re working to expand coverage of their platform in both Boston and Portland, Maine ahead of the elections coming up in November. Tanbark is fitting outa brick-and-mortar “micro-mill” in Saco, Maine, hiring the people they need, beginning production and sending out their first shipments in October.

As for the Founder Residency, they’re welcoming Cohort B this July. With the success of the first cohort, having helped Founders develop the skills to successfully scale their ideas and businesses, there will undoubtedly be many more cohorts for years to come.

“It’s important that we maintain the focus on helping those underrepresented entrepreneurs access the tools and resources they need to be successful,” said Smith. “Our goal is to make sure that we continue to do that.”