Startup support org you should know: ACT Tulsa

ACT Tulsa is a 6-month cohort driven accelerator program aimed at cultivating and driving innovation of underestimated founders located in Tulsa and beyond. Designed as an accelerator, ACT Tulsa encompasses 3 months of incubation: team cohesion, product development, business development, & customer development and 3 months of implementation: go to market plan, capital planning, pitching and sales targeting.

This program is also paired with milestone based, non-equity, non-recourse repayable concept awards of $70,000 to the early-stage startups participating in the Accelerator. Founders have access to mentors and launch resources and ACT Tulsa is designed to equip founders with skills, tools, and a network to accelerate the foundational growth of their companies.

Well-founded in our experiences of our ecosystem and the national landscape, there are major discrepancies that exist for women and people of color when starting a venture. Black founders receive roughly 1% of VC funding, mainly due to 81% of VC firms not having a black investor -with only 2% of venture capitalist being African American. ACT Tulsa aims to dismantle these inequities through our programming.

Leveraging the ACT House programmatic model and i2E’s venture management, ACT Tulsa is positioned to develop, recruit, and invest in underestimated founders by providing coaching, capital, and community of entrepreneurs on the same journey.