Startup joins Black Founder Accelerator

A Boulder startup has joined this year’s cohort of the Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator, the only Colorado company on the list.

Sherisse Hawkins, founder and CEO of Pagedip, trade name for Beneath the Ink Inc., 3625 Silver Plume Lane in Boulder, will participate in the accelerator and receive its funding and benefits.

Pagedip creates a no-code authoring tool that makes it easy for teams to create and share smart documents. “Pagedip’s granular ‘in-document analytics’ can be viewed in real time, providing key insights about reader interest down to the word or widget,” according to a description fo the company.

The Black Founder Accelerator was created this past year to provide resources and financing to Black entrepreneurs nationwide.

“This next class of five startups builds upon the success of the 10 founders we were proud to team up with in 2021. This group (of companies) was selected based on their unique business models and drive to build tech solutions that help people live longer, better, and healthier lives across multiple areas of focus, including financial services, insurance, and digital health,” Craig Schedler, managing director of Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, said in a statement.

Founders of Black companies receive less than 1% of venture capital, Northwestern wrote in a press release. “The Black Founder Accelerator program provides those selected with a $100,000 investment, a 12week business training program, access to venture capital partners and Northwestern Mutual mentors and more,” the release said.

Other founders included are:

• Bryan Hobbs, founder and CEO of Pruuvn, Atlanta, Georgia.

• Cody Eddings, founder and CEO of Snaprefund, Philadelphia.

• Tiffanie Stanard, founder and CEO of Stimulus, also from Philadelphia.

• Victor Brown, founder and CEO of Xcellent Life of Lexington, Tennessee.

This article was first published by Bizwest.