An accelerator for startups!
Investing in underestimated founders
Here’s what you get with our program
$70k
Capital Investment
Supporting your business from the beginning
0%
Interest
That’s right. The money is all yours with no strings attached. You pay zero interest. Period.
0%
Equity
Own what you build. We take no equity stake in your venture. This time, it’s not too good to be true.
Build your team, your product, your customers, and your equity
Building equity in your operations, product development, and team cohesion is our focus at ACT Tulsa. We ensure that you’re in a strong position to raise your first round as you begin your journey towards company building and wealth creation.
Access to advisors advisors who help you build capacity
Our skill-based, strategic advisors enable you to develop the leadership acumen you need as a founder and the skills you need to get the job done. Our founders build their companies on their own two feet, we just help them stand up
3 months to incubate
with a cohort while you get your team, company, and product together.
Self-guided and founder-driven, that is the Jedi way to incubate companies. With your Managing Director and fleet of curated advisors, our team guides you through developing a lean and balanced team, getting your product to launch, understanding your scale model, and bringing in revenue. It’s rigorous and structured to make you a more resilient founder! Avoiding the pitfalls associated with new companies, helping it grow into a profitable enterprise.
Team Cohesion
Not having the right team ranks 3rd out of the top 20 reasons why startups fail. We believe our ACT model reflects the proven leadership strategies to build well-balanced founding teams!
Product Development
The testing ground and gauntlet of customer discovery, prototype development, and product iteration. We believe in accelerating the basics.
Business Development
Whether it’s operations, marketing, or scaling, your business changes and we have the tools to ensure you adapt.
Customer Development
Revenue is all that matters and the tools – ad campaigns, customer feedback loops, marketing and sales techniques are all that matters.
3 months to implement
the lessons, get to the money, and grow your business with your team.
Our proven, nationally-recognized, structured approach to launching and developing businesses is designed to assist you in avoiding the pitfalls associated with new companies, helping them grow into a profitable enterprise.
Venture Readiness
It’s not just about connecting with investors but about being prepared so you can have meaningful and accelerated conversations.
Pitch Preparation
Whether it’s a live pitch or an investor pitch deck, we will work with you to help you tell your story. We work to help develop your pitch the way investors want to hear it.
Growth and Development
We actively target customers and partners with you to accelerate your growth and validate your vision. Assist with development of business plans, evaluation of marketing plans and assessment of capital needs.
Executive Training
Provide guidance in building a management team, choosing an optimal business structure and creating financial forecasting. A customized mix of coaching, technical services and access to capital.
What we’re looking for?
Founder Commitment
You’ve already made the decision that this is the problem, startup, or business you are creating in your life. If this isn’t you don’t apply.
Early Stage
You have a clear understanding of your problem and you are in the midst of product development.
Team
You want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far take a team. You may not already have your team solidified but you are on the right track of getting there.
Support you
can trust
Meet Our Team
ACT Tulsa is a joint venture that leverages the programmatic model of ACT House and the venture management experience of i2E, Inc. Focused on raising the equity bar for Black and Brown founders, the ACT Tulsa Accelerator is Phase I of a two-phase approach in developing, recruiting, and investing in underestimated founders by providing coaching, capital, and a community of entrepreneurs on the same journey.
Dominick Ard’is
Managing Director
Malachi Blankenship
Investments & Partnerships
Taleya Mayberry
Program Manager
Jordan McNear
Creative Producer
Theo Mazunga
Tulsa Service Year Fellow
Kuan Yew
Operations Associate
Frequently Asked Questions
We invest $70,000 of non-dilutive, non-recourse capital in the form of a repayable award. The terms are simple: 0% interest, 0% equity, 1x payback after 18 months so that another founder can have the same opportunity we gave you. We don’t take equity and we don’t take board seats in the companies participating in the accelerator. We exist to raise the bar for underestimated founders and not only increase the value of your company but increase your ownership in it as well.
The accelerator runs for a period of 6 months, with digital workshops, programming, and mentorship taking place each week. The first 3 months are focused on implementation and acceleration while the last 3 months are focused on incubation and growth. As part of the ACT Tulsa Accelerator, selected founders outline the top technical challenges facing their startup, and are then paired with relevant mentors to help solve those challenges. Participating startups receive focus on technical challenges and how to commercialize and scale their startup, as well as connections to relevant corporations in Tulsa.
Applications end May 24th, 2021 – The inaugural cohort for the ACT Tulsa Accelerator will kick off on June 28th, 2021. The first cohort will consist of 6-8 of the most promising startups around Tulsa. ACT Tulsa will run two cohorts a year accepting up to 15 startups each year.
This program is open to minority-led technology startups. The accelerator program is best suited for pre-revenue to early revenue-generating tech startups. Selected companies should have a founder and appropriate team members that are available to join all program elements of the ACT Tulsa cohort and are located in or can relocate to Tulsa, OK.
ACT House has partnered with i2E, a private not-for-profit corporation. I2E’s mission is to invest in entrepreneurs to build successful high-growth companies in Oklahoma. They achieve their mission by working directly with companies through programs like ACT Tulsa to commercialize their technologies, launch and grow new businesses, and access needed capital.
No, we won’t sign an NDA. No venture firm would at this stage. The informal commitment to confidentiality on our application form is more than any VC would make.
