ASHEVILLE, NC, December 4th, 2018– Over the last five years, Asheville’s startup ecosystem has sprinted forward, from increasing its population, to shaping a market of greater profitability, to developing a nuanced support network. Venture Asheville celebrated that growth by unveiling a list of the 15 fastest-growing Asheville-area startups, along with honoring Mentor of the Year, Investor of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Resource of the Year, and the Shining Rock Award on Thursday, December 6th, 6-9 p.m. at ISIS Music Hall, at the Inaugural Venture 15 and Venture Honors Awards Ceremony.
“This event is a showcase of the founders, mentors, investors, and support providers who’ve manifested a true entrepreneurial ecosystem. We spend all of our energy looking forward. We dedicate all of our time to new solutions, or filling gaps in the ecosystem– this event let’s us take a moment to pause and look at how much we’ve achieved,” said Jeff Kaplan, Director of Venture Asheville.
In 2018, the 15 fastest-growing startups, which are calculated by Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), raised a total revenue of $51.9M. Eleven out of the 15 of those startups are either past, present or future members of Venture Asheville’s Elevate mentorship program. The number one spot was awarded to Elite HRV, an Elevate participant and highly sophisticated health app that increased its CAGR by 210.6% in the last two years. The full rankings list is attached in an infographic.
Ginger Frank, owner of Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn, received the Entrepreneur of the Year award. Miller Williams was named Investor of the year, and Chris Buehler was named Mentor of the Year. 1 Million Cups was the Resource Program of the Year. And Alon Kaplan received The Shining Rock Award, an award that honors a tenacious and resilient entrepreneur in the community.
In between awards, Venture Asheville shared three big announcements about 2019 programming. Venture’s Elevate program formally announced its newest cohort, made up of 17 area startups (for more details see attached infographic).
In partnership with Green Opportunities (GO), Venture has also recently been accepted into NC IDEA’s Ice House Facilitator Training. By using materials and training developed by the Kaufmann Foundation, Venture and GO will work together to develop the entrepreneurial mindset in underemployed and unemployed individuals in Spring 2019.
Finally, Venture announced its new Asheville Impact Micro-Grant Program, which aims to raise funds to support the efforts of early-stage startups. This grant will offer high-impact grants of up to $5K for area entrepreneurs in need of a financial boost.
“This high-impact grant is a sign our community acknowledges that not only can we achieve great things together, but that we cannot achieve great things unless we work together. This grant will fast-track early-stage startups,” Kaplan said.
“I expect this event to kick off many more relationships. We don’t have many opportunities to bring this many people from all the different parts of the ecosystem together in one place. The celebrating is fun, but the Venture 15 and Venture Asheville Honors will be remembered for the doors it opens and connections it makes.”
Venture Asheville is the high-growth entrepreneurship initiative of the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. Venture Asheville grows Asheville’s startup community and connects high-growth entrepreneurs to talent, mentors and investors through unique programming and events.
For more than 120 years, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce has supported the community by growing jobs, advocating for a business-friendly environment and helping businesses thrive. The Asheville Chamber consists of 1,700 member organizations (representing more than 80,000 employees) who are dedicated to building community through business. Located at 36 Montford Avenue, the Asheville Chamber also operates the Asheville Visitor Center, serving more than 200,000 visitors each year, and the Asheville Shop, showcasing many local products and Asheville gifts.
Learn more at www.ashevillechamber.org.
