Emory’s Start:ME business accelerator program to showcase 48 entrepreneur enterprises

Start:ME, a business accelerator program run through Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, will graduate 48 micro-entrepreneurs from the Clarkston, East Lake and Southside Atlanta communities this year.
According to a Start:ME press release, the annual program will celebrate this year’s ventures with an Entrepreneur Showcase on Tuesday, April 10 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Goizueta Business School in Atlanta.
Presented by Comcast Business, the event will showcase the entrepreneurs’ products and services and will also feature local foods, pitch presentations from top ventures and grant investment announcements, the release said.
The 14-week program, which partners with Friends of Refugees, East Lake Foundation, Focused Community Strategies (FCS) and Purpose Built Schools of Atlanta, helps grow small businesses from underserved Atlanta communities.
The program provides business training, mentorship support and early-stage financing. It also allows entrepreneurs to support one another while competing for peer-selected seed investment grants from a $30,000 pool ($10,000 in each community), according to the release.
Since it began in 2013, Start:ME has worked with more than 150 local businesses and awarded more than 20 working capital investments in the form of loans and grants.
Some of this year’s businesses include website and digital media service providers, traditional foods from Syria, artisan clothing and apparel makers, natural health and beauty producers, pet services providers, local boutique concepts and more.