RAIN Launches Coastal Pre-accelerator

Only a year-and-a-half since first arriving on the Central Oregon Coast, RAIN will offer its first pre-accelerator in Florence and Newport

As part of its goal to improve the infrastructure for rural entrepreneurship, Oregon RAIN has launched its first coastal pre-accelerator program. The pre-accelerator, which will be offered in Florence and Lincoln County, is a 12-week, bootcamp style program for the best and brightest startup companies on the Central Oregon Coast.

Listen to RAIN’s David Youngentob talk about the pre-accelerator with Kiera Morgan on KNPT Newport

The launch of Oregon RAIN’s coastal pre-accelerator program follows the addition of David Youngentob as Coastal Venture Catalyst for the Mid-Coast region on November 1, 2016. The new Coastal Venture Catalyst position greatly expands the strength of RAIN’s network and resources available to entrepreneurs in and around Florence and up through Lincoln City.

[KGVID]https://oregonrain.org/site/assets/media/2017/02/LinCo-Pre-accelerator-promo.mp4[/KGVID]

Applications for the Florence pre-accelerator are now closed but RAIN is still accepting applicants for the Newport program through March 6 at bit.ly/lincopreaccelerator. Applicant companies must be based in coastal Lincoln County, plan to sell nationally, and create jobs. Up to six companies will be selected for each pre-accelerator, which begin in mid-March.

The Florence pre-accelerator begins on March 15 and concludes on June 14 with an open-to-the-public Demo Day exhibition and graduation for the cohort. The Newport pre-accelerator, which will cover the same material, begins on March 22 and concludes with its Demo Day on June 21.

[KGVID]https://oregonrain.org/site/assets/media/2017/02/FloCo-Pre-accelerator-Promo.mp4[/KGVID]

Over the course of 12 weeks, the company cohorts will cover a range of topics including marketing and sales, financials and business modeling, and pitching and fundraising. They will  address these topics through seminars and workshops, group and 1-on-1 mentoring, one-page business plans, and more. Time commitments include two weekly sessions of 3 hours each, with an additional 10+ hours per week of homework.

The RAIN coastal pre-accelerator is supported by the cities of Florence, Newport, Toledo and Lincoln City, Lane and Lincoln counties, and the Ford Family Foundation.