Regional innovation plan encourages “entrepreneurship for everyone”
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (January 6, 2014) – Memphis-based venture development organization, Start Co. today announced the blueprint of MEMx, a development plan to spur entrepreneurial growth in the Memphis market. MEMx was developed by Start Co. with assistance from seasoned venture development practitioners at JumpStart Inc. and the input of over 200 Memphis partners and community leaders. With more than 30 committed partners on board, MEMx is now a movement, with key collaborators coming together to leverage entrepreneurship’s potential to be a catalyst for economic and community transformation. The MEMx plan provides a roadmap for encouraging a more diverse and inclusive ecosystem that will create potential for building flourishing high-growth businesses in Memphis.
“MEMx plan partners have an aligned vision to advance entrepreneurship in Memphis through this new approach that encourages an entrepreneurial mindset and appreciation across the entire community,” says Andre Fowlkes, co-president at Start Co. “To help Memphis establish the building blocks of a thriving economy, it’s absolutely critical that we’re deliberately inclusive in our effort.”
The Memphis economy has consistently underperformed compared to national averages. The MEMx plan was developed to offset the region’s sluggish deal flow and nominal investment support for early stage companies, specifically the low number of qualified high growth potential deals and historically low participation of underrepresented populations in economic development. The plan implements a collaborative, multi-phased approach that applies entrepreneurial principles to address challenges and opportunities and is designed to:
- Build on Memphis’ strengths and opportunities: Enhance current programs and existing resources while ramping up the entrepreneurial culture in Memphis by fostering ongoing collaboration in the community.
- Enhance and supplement existing entrepreneurial support programs and resources as a next step in creating a collaborative, high-impact approach to increase qualified deal flow and the participation of diverse audiences (women, students and minorities) while increasing the success rate of existing Memphis entrepreneurs.
- Generate measurable data to evolve the plan going forward: Leverage data garnered during the pilot implementation phase to inform future programs aimed at increasing entrepreneurial activity and attracting capital related to quality and share of deal flow.
MEMx is a new initiative and, like a startup, we will learn and pivot as we grow,” adds Fowlkes.
To learn more about the partners involved in the plan, please visit www.neverstop.co/memx.
“The community has come together in Memphis to pave the way to engage leaders and organizations from the public, private, philanthropic and educational sectors,” says JumpStart’s Mike Mozenter. “There is a groundswell of enthusiasm and there are organizations at the table now that have never participated in this type of effort before.”
The MEMx plan was developed using primary and secondary research including interviews with more than 100 community organizations, investors, and partners to understand the region’s entrepreneurial support assets and identify gaps and opportunities. Next steps include fundraising and activation of plan recommendations, most notably expanding available resources and the capabilities and offerings of accelerators in the region.
The full plan can be viewed at www.neverstop.co/memx. To learn more about opportunities to be part of the Memphis entrepreneurial movement, visit www.neverstop.co.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Start Co. is a nationally recognized non-profit (501c3) serving as the nexus of public-private efforts to accelerate the success of diverse entrepreneurs and their high growth companies while enhancing the Memphis’ startup ecosystem that supports them. Start Co. partners include archer>malmo, Baker Donelson, The Marston Group and Mosaik Solutions. More information can be found at www.neverstop.co.
JumpStart Inc. accelerates the successes of diverse entrepreneurs, their companies and the ecosystems supporting them. Since 2004, JumpStart has invested $28 million in 76 seed and early stage companies and provided thousands of hours of human capital to more than 400 similar entrepreneurial businesses in Northeast Ohio. Fifteen regions across the country have leveraged JumpStart’s expertise and experience to develop tailored solutions that help realize the entrepreneurial potential of their communities. To learn more, visit www.jumpstartinc.org or follow @JumpStartInc on Twitter.