SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Those interested have until the end of May to apply for involvement in CenterState CEO’s Syracuse Surge Accelerator. Announced April 17, it’s a program that seeks to “address the lack of diversity in the technology industry.” Specifically, the initiative seeks to empower Black-Indigenous-Persons of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs to launch and accelerate new […]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Those interested have until the end of May to apply for involvement in CenterState CEO’s Syracuse Surge Accelerator.
Announced April 17, it’s a program that seeks to “address the lack of diversity in the technology industry.”
Specifically, the initiative seeks to empower Black-Indigenous-Persons of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs to launch and accelerate new or existing tech-related startups within the city of Syracuse.
“The Syracuse Surge Accelerator is an inclusive, dynamic tech program with the focused resources and tools BIPOC startup founders need to grow and thrive,” Emad Rahim, Syracuse Surge entrepreneurship manager at CenterState CEO, said. “We know there are significantly few tech startups with minority founders. Through this program we seek to drive change and create opportunities for those innovators to turn their ideas into businesses right here in Syracuse, New York.”
Today, fewer than 25 percent of tech startups in the U.S. have founders of color. Rahim explained the goal of the accelerator program is to “help remove the structural and cultural barriers that make it more difficult for a minority to enter the tech industry.”
Over the course of the 12-month experience, entrepreneurs will have access to the programming and resources at CenterState CEO’s Tech Garden.
The Syracuse Surge Accelerator will provide entrepreneurs with “culturally competent” programming as well as capital during the various stages of their development, “contributing to the city-wide Syracuse Surge initiative,” CenterState CEO said.
Applicants are encouraged to submit an electronic application by May 31 by visiting the Syracuse Surge Accelerator section of the CenterState CEO website.
CenterState CEO and the Syracuse Surge Accelerator program will select and announce qualified applicants in mid-June. The first cohort will begin the program in August.
The City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, CenterState CEO and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation announced the Syracuse Surge in 2019 as a “new strategy to position the city as a destination for inclusive growth for minority, women, veteran and disabled owned (XBE) tech businesses in the New Economy,” per the CenterState CEO announcement. Their efforts plan to “position Syracuse as an inclusive and emerging market” for business, technology and innovation.
