XLerateHealth adds to Flint’s Entrepreneurial Spirit
Driving into downtown Flint, MI, it immediately becomes apparent that this is a city that is making a big comeback. Seriously, this city is hopping; it took us fifteen minutes to find parking, and the number of people walking around is similar to what you would see in any vibrant city’s downtown area. The NCP team was in town to celebrate the opening of XLerateHealth at the Ferris Wheel. Our CEO, Mark Arizmendi, spoke to a group of entrepreneurs who are starting the XLerateHealth twelve-week accelerator program, the first group that will participate through the new Flint location.
His talk (which you can find in more detail in a follow-up blog post titled Start-Up Tips from our CEO ) covered topics like stewardship of finances, the importance of accelerators, finding the “play in the space,” raising venture funds vs. strategic partners, how to recruit the right people and customer discovery.
NCP has had a relationship with XLerateHealth for the last four years and helped make introductions that eventually led them to expand from a single location in Louisville into the Ferris Wheel in Flint. XLerateHealth helps early-stage healthcare companies build out their commercialization strategy and offers different levels of mentorship and support to companies depending on their stage. They have a twelve-week intensive accelerator program that concludes with a demo day where the companies present to potential investors, strategic partners, and ventures capitalists (https://www.xleratehealth.com/).
Already home to 100K Ideas (https://www.100kideas.org/), the Ferris Wheel is the perfect Michigan location for XLerateHealth to call home. 100K Ideas helps entrepreneurs with business development through advice, support, and mentorship. Having both XLerateHealth and 100K ideas only adds to the entrepreneurial and innovative feel of the building that is also occupied by other business and offers co-working space.
It is through programs like this, and the commitment of entrepreneurs like Phil Hagerman, as well as investors like NCP, that we see innovation and collaboration at their finest. It’s the support of these groups, many long committed to the potential in the Midwest, that help true innovation and new products reach the market. NCP is proud to support these programs, especially in the Midwest where we see and continue to see growth in an area that was (and to some extent still is) under-appreciated.
