It starts with a great idea. But many entrepreneurs aren’t certain how to make that idea become reality or how to navigate the entrepreneurial resources scattered across Madison.
To help address those challenges, the UpStart Program, a partnership between the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and the UW–Madison Small Business Development Center, offers free entrepreneurial resources and practical advice to women and minority entrepreneurs.
“We know there are promising ideas in our community with talented people behind them. UpStart helps these entrepreneurs improve an existing idea, build a business if they choose and, by extension, help create more jobs in Wisconsin,” explains UpStart Program Manager Rafael Diaz.
UpStart offers two sessions per year and is now accepting applications for its fall session that begins Sept. 6. Program participants spend two hours every Tuesday evening for 11 weeks interacting with local experts on accounting, finance, marketing and more. The program is sponsored by WARF and is free to its participants.
Almost 130 entrepreneurs have completed the UpStart Program since 2013. The program’s alumni include social entrepreneur Roxie Hentz, CEOs of Tomorrow, Sara Parthasarathy and her spice company, FillMyRecipe LLC, the Urban League’s Ruben Anthony and Erin Schneider and Rob McClure’s Hilltop Community Farm.
“What I got from the program was so beneficial,” said Hentz. “I was introduced to a diverse network, talented and creative people, all who really pushed my thinking. The resources and experts in the course were amazing.”
Schneider says the program provides an important foundation. “UpStart helped me focus on an area of our business we wanted to grow: farm stays/agritourism. Having a better framework for financial planning and connecting with people who are navigating through the same resources and process were really impactful.”
The application deadline is July 15, 2016. For more information and to apply, click here.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation promotes, encourages and aids scientific research at the UW-Madison while helping steward the cycle of research, discovery, commercialization and investment at UW. Founded in 1925 as an independent, nonprofit foundation, WARF manages more than 1,700 patents and an investment portfolio of $2.6 billion as it funds university research, obtains patents for campus discoveries and licenses inventions to industry.
