30 Oct 2019 The Future of Entrepreneurship in SWFL
Intro by Sarah Owen, president & CEO Southwest Florida Community Foundation
Last week I shared the energy and impact I am seeing in our community through the support of homegrown entrepreneurs. Bright, innovative Southwest Floridians starting and growing their businesses right here in our region, to serve our neighbors in a variety of ways. Many of you reached out looking for more information on SecondMuse, a company leading this work globally and in Southwest Florida. We asked SecondMuse to tell you a little more about their work and how you can be involved.
by Jason Teeters, program director, SecondMuse
SecondMuse is a global innovation company that has been tackling essential challenges in entrepreneurship, manufacturing, capital, mental health, and education for more than a decade. How? We collaborate with visionary governments, corporations, foundations and startups to build 21st-century economies. At the core of our economies are people, communities, and networks.
In May, SecondMuse launched its Kinective Program in partnership with the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. This Community Sourced Incubator (CSI) is designed to work closely with local SWFL entrepreneurs to help them build profitable, scalable, and sustainable businesses in our community.
Unlike other incubators and accelerator programs, which focus on building unicorn companies, SecondMuse’s work strengthens local economies. We help startups grow by assisting in the development of local capital, markets, policy and regulation, infrastructure, support services, culture and history and human resources. This cutting-edge program focuses on inclusion and collaboration to create an ecosystem that looks like South West Florida and concentrates on the resources and assets already available within the community…hence the name, community sourced incubator.
The Kinective Program strives to make building a business actually…fun.
In July, we launched our first cohort of twelve entrepreneurs. Over the next few months you will have the opportunity to read what some of these artists, makers, movers and shakers, within the SWFL community, are up to as they share their stories, organizations, and visions of what being a SWFL entrepreneur looks like in the 21st- century. In early December, we will open up applications for our second Kinective Cohort. We will announce the participants in January and launch the second Kinective Cohort in February 2020. What can you do?
There are a few ways you can support our work:
- Share the story of a local entrepreneur that we should connect with.
- Engage as a mentor and participate regularly with the entrepreneurs. Mentoring can be in-person or virtual.
- Participate on our advisory circle. This group will help shape many facets of our work. From funding ideas to sharing knowledge on how we can best impact SWFL.
- Provide technical expertise. The idea behind community-sourced incubation is to build upon our local assets. We use a workshop model that provides an opportunity to share your knowledge with our cohort and the community.
Connect with us at [email protected]
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, founded in 1976, cultivates regional change for the common good through collective leadership, social innovation and philanthropy to address the evolving community needs in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Foundation partners with individuals, families and corporations who have created more than 400 philanthropic funds. Thanks to them, the Foundation invested $6.8 million in grants and programs to the community. With assets of more than $126 million, it has provided $78.2 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves since inception. The Foundation is the backbone organization for the regional FutureMakers Coalition and Lee County’s Sustainability Plan. The Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s regional headquarters are now located in the historic ACL Train Depot at Collaboratory in downtown Fort Myers, with a satellite office located in LaBelle (Hendry County). For more information, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com.
