Hampton Roads entrepreneurs can apply for three months of free rent at local coworking spaces. The Startup Stability Program is a collaboration between Bloom Coworking, Percolator, and local businesses. Moreover, entrepreneurs will attend a 12-week accelerator program and masterminds.
The state of Virginia launched several activities to attract remote workers and restart the economy after the pandemic. Likewise, The Startup Stability Program is funded by the GO Virginia grant ($200,000). Furthermore, it is a partnership between Bloom; Percolator; Black BRAND; the Norfolk State University Innovation Center; and Portsmouth Partnership.
The program is open to any business at any stage of the process. In addition, the organization is encouraging women and minorities to apply since coworking spaces are a boom in Virginia nowadays. As Bloom Coworking community manager Kindra Greene states: “Our main goal is to break down those boundaries for getting a business off the ground.”
Benefits of The Startup Stability Program for Entrepreneurs
First, the participants will receive three months of free rent at Bloom in Portsmouth or Percolator in Norfolk. After that, the coworking spaces will offer progressive rental assistance to support the businesses’ growth.
Secondly, entrepreneurs will attend the 12-week-long B-Force Accelerator program. Organized by Black BRAND, the program offers workshops and coaching opportunities from industry experts.
Finally, the annual personal income of eligible businesses must be under $75,000. Furthermore, the business proposal must include one of these categories:
- Business services.
- Tourism and recreation.
- Ship repair and shipbuilding.
- Water technologies.
- Port operations, logistics, and warehousing.
- Life sciences.
- Aerospace.
- Cybersecurity, data analytics, modeling, and simulation.
Application info:
Send the application via bloomcoworking.org.
Final deadline: May 30.
The program officially starts on June 1.
