EforAll awards $15K to latest cohort winners

NEW BEDFORD – At an event to celebrate its latest cohort, Entrepreneurship For All South Coast awarded $15,500 in prizes shared by six of the 14 new businesses that successfully completed the 2017 EforAll accelerator program.

More than 100 people attended the event, held Sept. 21, which doubled as both an opportunity for program graduates to showcase their products and services as well as EforAll’s second anniversary celebration of its launch in September 2015.

In the two years since, EforAll has shepherded 47 early-stage ventures through the 12-week intensive EforAll South Coast Accelerator Program, which have gone on to generate $1.7 million in revenue, raise $1 million in capital and create 155 jobs.

The entrepreneurs who received a share of the $15,500 monetary award were:

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  • Rob Coyne School of Music: $5,500. Rob Coyne of Warren is the founder of the “coolest place to learn an instrument,” providing professional lessons both on- and off-premise as well as retail instruments and accessories.
  • Bootblack Brand: $3,500. Paul Kubiski of Barrington creates a complex cocktail and soda syrup to be enjoyed at home or your favorite restaurant.
  • People’s Pressed: $3,000. Amanda Desroisers of Dartmouth is opening a juice bar in downtown New Bedford, serving a variety of nutritious cold-pressed juices, whole-food smoothies, superfood bowls and delicious grab-and-go snacks.
  • Project Wheelhouse: $1,500. Jessica Webb of Mattapoisett, Mass., is working to alleviate human suffering through mind-body programs for incarcerated women in Bristol County and New England.
  • The Alternative Roadmap: $1,500. Christian Carmody of New York has created a life-coaching curriculum for millennials by millennials, reaching at-risk youth population that do not plan to pursue college.
  • The Peyton Co.: $500. Awarded in honor of Christina Hamilton, a past Lowell entrepreneur. Natalie Thompson of Seekonk is the founder of a small batch, organic, fair-trade beauty and body care company creating all-natural skin care products for purchase online and retail spa locations.

Other participants of the 2017 EforAll accelerator included Casey Gunschel LLC, a custom leatherworking studio; Chip Rascal, a balloon sculpture and photo-booth service; Forget-Me-Not, an online service to preserve the memories of loved ones through a series of prompts and questions; Grow Together, an edible-garden installation company; Holy Crepe, a creperie to open in New Bedford; I Do Wedding, an online booking platform for wedding planning; OctoVie Skin & Beauty Brush, a three-in-one beauty tool for exfoliating skin; and Your Feng Shui Guru, a business to organize homes and offices using Feng Shui methodology.

EforAll is currently accepting applications for the Winter 2018 Accelerator Program. Interested entrepreneurs can find more information or apply to the program at www.eforall.org. The deadline for applications is Oct. 31.

Galen Auer is a PBN contributing writer. Email galen.auer@gmail.com or follow on Twitter at @PBNAuer.