MassChallenge
In 2016, Rhode Island's Governor, Gina Raimondo, approached MassChallenge about doing an analysis on Rhode Island's startup & innovation ecosystems in order to shed light on its strengths and opportunities.
MassChallenge was given grants by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation and the Rhode Island Foundation to use it's Bridge to MassChallenge Ecosystem Analysis approach to conduct the research.
I was hired as a contractor to run the project, which included data gathering, research, analysis, report development & presentation, running a startup bootcamp & events.
During this project, I recognized an opportunity for MassChallenge to develop a new kind of program for smaller, burgeoning startup ecosystems surrounding it's accelerators in larger cities. Rhode Island was the perfect place to test this new program, and innovation stakeholders throughout the state were highly interested in being the first location to launch this new program.
My contract was extended. I architected the program and raised $1.5 million over 3 years from corporate partners and public grants. The new program will launch in 2018 and I now serve on its advisory board.
