pre-accelerator (it takes a Village)
APPLY FOR ITV16 (Summer 2025) HERE
The Mission
It Takes A Village is ATV’s commitment to leveling the playing field for underrepresented founders, especially women, Black, Latinx, and other marginalized entrepreneurs. By combining tactical education, curated investor access, non-dilutive capital, and hands-on mentorship, we’re building a stronger, more inclusive tech ecosystem, one breakthrough startup at a time.
What Sets Us Apart
Curated VC Access– No pitch roulette. We schedule real meetings with venture firms actively looking to invest in diverse founders.
Hands-On Mentorship– Weekly 1:1s with proven founders, tech operators, and venture leaders who’ve scaled companies and know what it takes.
Validation – A workshop-based curriculum focused on customer discovery, MVP refinement, financial modeling, GTM strategy, and growth KPIs.
Our Pledge
We pledge to address the systemic barriers faced by underrepresented founders. Through intentional recruitment, hands-on support, and direct investor connections, we help founders overcome obstacles, ensuring they have the resources to scale.
Our Pre-Accelerator
Atlanta Tech Village’s It Takes A Village is a 12-week pre-accelerator designed to empower and get the best out of founders.
This program provides:
- Structured Curriculum: Workshops on customer discovery, MVP refinement, go-to-market strategies, financial modeling, and pitch development.
- Weekly KPI Accountability: Growth hacking sessions and
Lesson Lab 2.0 workshops to track progress. - Hands-On Advisors: Mentors from tech, VC, and corporate
sectors offer tailored guidance. - Non-Dilutive Capital: Grants to fuel early-stage growth.
- Curated VC Connections: Pre-scheduled meetings with top venture firms committed to investing in underrepresented founders.
Confirmed VC partners include:
At the end of this 3-month Program, our goal is to position startups for seed funding, enterprise pilots, or acceptance into top accelerator programs.
APPLY FOR ITV16 (Summer 2025) HERE
Community Support and Celebration
In conclusion of the program, we celebrate participating Founders who have successfully graduated from the program with pitches in front of Atlanta’s startup ecosystem while giving startups the opportunity to demo their products.
Founders will get 4 minutes to pitch and a designated table for attendees to mix and mingle with potential customers, investors, and tech influencers in the southeast. (We also know how to have a good time.)
Summer 2025 Cohort Schedule
Eligibility for this program:
- Woman, Black, Latinx, or other marginalized group.
- Have a product with traction, ideally with some revenue (past idea stage).
- Have raised less than $300,000.
- Technology-focused, e.g., FinTech, SaaS, Ethical AI,
PropTech, etc. (no Consumer Packaged Goods or Entertainment). - Have access to technical resources—this can include developers or no-code/low-code solutions.
- Commit to 1-2 days per week on-site at Atlanta Tech Village.
- Be kind, collaborative, and supportive, no a$$holes.
Benefits
- Cohort of ambitious, mission-aligned founders
- Membership at Atlanta Tech Village
- Mentorship and Advisement
- Weekly In-Person Advisor Office Hours
- Lesson Labs: Rich curriculum centered around in-depth topics relating to growing a sustainable business
- Weekly KPI check-ins + accountability coaching
- Amenities: Events, fitness gym, free bi-weekly lunches, 24/7 access to the building
- Investor access that’s real, not performative
Program Alumni
Check out all the graduates from the Pre-Accelerator. Combined, this group has generated $480K+ in seed investments and generated $1.9M in revenue.
15th Cohort: Joe Guster- DentaFlo, Loren Mount O'brien- Mirour , Keillen Smith- Smart Compart, Dany Hernandez- Sonaara, Stephanie Dowda Demer- powershift, Charles Berry- PathSynch
14th Cohort: Andrea Furtick - AGC Toys Inc., David-Michael Ajudua - Aiazing, Sugju Choi - Bubble Date, Meg Herlihy - Indaago Data, Nigel Stewart - Mission2Motivate, Nadine Ruecker - My Data Unlocked, Lillania Shah - Poolerz, Janessa Ferrell - QuestRead, Robert Foster - Shot Makers League, Akash Patel - SkyAlpha Ventures LLC
13th Cohort: Smitha Kommareddi - Streamify Livecommerce Inc, Fritz Valsaint - WiiTrak Inc., Benjamin Tan - Psyntel, Adrian Lozano Jr. - Hack Latino, Kristin Bell - ReviewTailor, Sheila Maithel - Brillist Better Projects, Keylem Collier - Aayats, Carrie McKinnon - 28ish
12th Cohort: Sarah Lawrence - TallyMade, Torrence Mays - Vehiki, Kathryn Farrell - Scopa Health, Lakshmi Jayanthi - Pickup Sports, Dominique Davis - DeliveryOnMe, Elizabeth Penn - Grapes
11th Cohort: Bryanna Marshall – Carit, Alannah Debruce – SingularityMD, Alim Charaniya – Ambitious App, Jessica Thomas – Wish For Yellow, Precious Price – LANDRIFT, Jordon Campbell – Chvlri, Verlyn Foley – DoleUpp, Rhiannon Vaugh – Writing With Spirit
10th Cohort: Alice Thacker – Gatsby, Crystal Osner – ReCo Grocery, Dedren Snead – Games4Grades, Kai Tan – Rev Match, Kristian Latiker – Caped, J. Labron Anderson – NuNeighbor, Patricia Marsh – Show Me Your M.D.
9th Cohort: Sebastian Builes – Arcum, Anthony Joiner – Blooksy, Gerald Carter – Destined AI, Rodeline Joseph – Medsembly, Eddie Legrand-Sawyer – Players Club, Karishma Babu – Upspeed, Elkanah Reed – Workopti
8th Cohort: Christian Ross – Happy Talks, Chris Faison – Blank, Avani Patel – CFO 360, Vincent Johnson – Coupify, Joe Hamilton – Bacchus, Omarie Mann – Rush The Line, Presley Agbure – Fr8bukyn Rekemo Fung-A-Wing – Cartet
7th Cohort: Timothy Fields – BESN, Amy Hollibaugh – Cul De Sac, Eban Bisong – Creative Critique, Dalero Berkley- MaverickIQ, Arsed “Sed” Joseph – StageWing, Marsha Jean-Louis – Stream Suites, Saurav Bhandari – TaxZen, Samuel Austin Evans – Very Individual Protection Services (VIP), Rejoice Jones – Vower
6th Cohort: Ashleigh Esprit The Studio Social, Andy Okala – Tuggo,
Tara Geigh – Romp and Tumble, Joel Nkounkou – ecoText.co, JT Liddell – promenade.ai, Fahim Faisal – MealBrowse
5th Cohort: Cesar Flores – HearthMates, Trellis Usher – Nova Health Labs, Thomas Clifton – Metriqq, Candice Jordan – Love Home, Bobby Gilbert – FundStory, Brandon Winfield – iAccess Life, Ashley Richardson – My Totem
4th Cohort: Baiyana Jihad – Beyond The Classroom, Jibril Sulaiman – Incluzion, Lauren Longo – Talli, Kaitlin Lutz – NewCrew, Edwin Williams – Perserbid, Tori Madison – For Good, Jahari Soward – My eSTEAM Kits, Anthony Colbert – My Study Goals, Chelcie Scott – BuildMe, Kristen Hooper – Relativly
3rd Cohort: Danielle Major – Smart Convos, Inc., Niesha Butler – ScrapSports, Dana James – Construwise, Justina Olatunde Davis – Omode’ Play and Create, Umama Kibria – Sweat Pack, Stefanie Jewett – Activvely, Dumarkus Davis – Musicbuk, Ariam Sium – Click-A-Shift, Connor Ford – Spirit
2nd Cohort: Richard Bailey – GrpFit, DeShawn Stevenson – OurErrands, Carolyn Pitt – Film Connx LLC, Lundyn Carter – Laine London, Tiffany Gaines – Laine London, Jerica Richardson – HackOut Ninja, Daniel Santos – HackOut Ninja, Brandon Evans – Cryptopedia/Renaissance Labs, Cloe Guidry – Hire Ground, Christiannah Oyedeji – Trymyfab, Ifrah Khan – Usit – On Demand Babysitting App, Sheehan Khan – Airlift
1st Cohort: Robert Hatcher – Aurign, Aaron Petty – Mitivate, John Thomas – RedBag Gifts, Ify Ifebi – Vendorspace, Wilkinson Egwu – LawnTap, Glen Williams – LocalCity, Karthik Puvvada – Closing Page, Vishal Kumar – Closing Page, Barbara Jones – Freeing Returns, Jessica Goodwin – MomSquad, David Hailey – Countalytics, Rob McFadden – Countalytics, Lisa Jones – EyeMail