Editor’s note: Joel Bennett, is New Ventures Accelerator Director

WINSTON-SALEM – The New Ventures Accelerator (NVA), based in Flywheel in Winston-Salem, is holding open discussions as registration deadlines approach for the 2018 Startup Accelerator.

Here’s the schedule:

The deadline to apply for the NVA is March 31, 2018, 11:50 PM. Application information can be found online.

Startups apply for a spot in the 12-week accelerator and work intensely to get their companies off the ground with pre-seed money from NVA investors. Since its inception, the program’s eight startup alumnae have raised more than $2.3 million in funding after leaving the program. All teams receive an average pre-seed investment of $50,000. The funding is paid out in tranches during the 12 weeks as teams demonstrate progress toward mutually agreed upon milestones.

NVA is an initiative started in 2016 at Flywheel. I lead the day-to-day operations with members of the cohort while my leadership partner Peter Marsh, co-founder of Flywheel, is responsible for fund administration and investor relations.

About New Ventures

What separates New Ventures Club from other accelerators is the number of investors we have. Collectively, we have more than 75 individual investors and mentors, which is unusual in itself, but each year’s investors are required to be active. Our investors bring with them a wide range of expertise and perspective that directly benefits our startups.

I have been active in the North Carolina startup scene since 2013, and 2018 will mark the eighth accelerator cohort under my direction. I have been designing products and delivering innovation services for almost 30 years in the Triad and have deep ties to the community. Peter has been in the scene for 18 years, getting his start in larger companies across a broad spectrum of industries. NVA’s team of investors share similarly diverse areas of expertise from patent law to construction.

Peter believes that personal investment of everyone involved on our side of the accelerator is what sets us apart.

Once we pick our cohort, we tell them on day one that these twelve weeks are not going to be easy, and they’re not always going to be comfortable. But we’ve assembled a group of passionate experts who are with you every step of the way as mentors as you make your dream a reality.

Success for a startup can be a tricky thing to define, whether you measure market penetration, pre-orders or letters of intent, since each startup is unique, comparing them to the startup sitting next to them is not always the right metric. We do agree that one definition of success is helping these fledgling companies get the full investment of the pre-seed money they need to execute their plans.

The program itself has core hours for collaboration, design and research on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of every week where all teams are expected to be onsite. In between planning, due diligence and presentations from local subject matter experts, group meals help reinforce that the cohort is a team working together for the benefit of each member. Pitches are practiced, Minimum Viable Products are defined, customers are contacted and engaged.

Cohort members can expect to use cloud applications like Realtime Boards and Poindexter. The former keeps goals clean and attainable while the latter allows deep research into a team’s respective market, customer acquisition and monthly recurring revenue strategies. Additionally, the program has a strong thread of mentorship from local experts and investors.

The New Ventures Accelerator is the brainchild of Peter Marsh and Flywheel’s other co-founder Brad Bennett (no, we are not related). Peter and Brad recognized the impact entrepreneurs could make on the local and regional economy. The investment team is organized under the Federal 506 exemption, and the program is structured as an LLC with a member operating agreement governing the use of funds. Companies picked for the accelerator, by the end of the program, have a due diligence investment audit and have signed an agreement to exchange stock for equity in their operations. That single step is also a measure of success.

I asked Brad for his view of success for New Ventures. I really liked what he had to say: “Everything happens pretty fast. Despite the fact that startups offer flexibility and reward quick responses to market forces, the tools we use are designed to keep everyone in lockstep. We set benchmarks on the first day and milestones within the first two weeks. And we all strive to meet them, as a team.”