Inaugural Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator cohort graduates at Virtual Premiere Night

MILWAUKEE, WI – gener8tor and Northwestern Mutual will showcase the inaugural Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator cohort at a virtual Premiere Night (“Demo Day”) at 5 p.m. CT on June 17, 2021.

“We’re excited to provide more insight into the new accelerator at Premiere Night,” said Precious Drew, Co-Managing Director of the Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator, which is powered by gener8tor. “Our mission has been to invest in and support Black entrepreneurs to help close the funding gap and advance their companies and our communities. Premiere Night is an opportunity to hear firsthand from the companies of the inaugural cohort.”

There’s been a robust amount of behind-the-scenes activity leading up to this event. The cohort has spent the past 12-weeks receiving 1:1 coaching from gener8tor and Northwestern Mutual’s network of mentors, investors and industry experts while validating their business models, attracting customers and preparing their pitches.

“Over the past three months, each company has connected with more than 90 mentors, met 1:1 with executives from Northwestern Mutual, established product-market fit, grown their customer base and pitched more than 90 individual investors in the final weeks of the program,” Drew said. “They’ve all worked tirelessly to create the best product for their customers. We’ve been fascinated with the inaugural cohort and the grit they’ve shown over the past three months.”

Premiere Night is a celebration of the inaugural Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator class of innovative startups, and of entrepreneurship. For the three months leading up to Premiere Night, the entrepreneurs have been validating their business models, attracting customers and preparing their pitches. Premiere Night offers an opportunity for Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator, Northwestern Mutual and gener8tor companies, entrepreneurs and investors to commingle.

Each Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator company will give a five-minute pitch in front of a captive audience of investors, entrepreneurs and community members at Premiere Night.

Startups interested in learning more about participating in the program should contact Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator Program Manager YaaJoy Engel (yaajoy@gener8tor.com). For more information or to register for Premiere Night, visit https://gener8torblackfounderaccelerator.com/premiere-night/2021

Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator | Spring 2021 Cohort

Freeman Capital offers a suite of financial planning tools designed from the ground up for underserved communities. Freeman Capital’s platform provides culturally relevant personalized action plans with access to human financial planners. In its first year, Freeman Capital increased clients’ net worth by an average of 40%. Freeman Capital has +6,700 users and is on pace for $100K in ARR with a paid user retention rate of 98% month over month.

Location: Raleigh, NC

Founder & CEO: Calvin F. Williams, Jr., calvin@freemancapital.co, freemancapital.co

HUED’s healthcare engagement solution addresses the needs of Black and Latino populations. HUED provides access to culturally-competent healthcare providers, offers health literacy and dismantles barriers that prevent BIPOC populations from accessing high-quality healthcare. HUED recently announced their partnership with Vaseline and has 8,000 patients and 600+ healthcare providers on the platform.

Location: Washington, D.C.

Founder & CEO: Kimberly Wilson, kimberly@huedco.com, huedco.com

RiftPay provides the easiest way to pay with others. RiftPay’s platform enables groups to spend money together and split payments in real time. RiftPay has raised over $250K and recently launched its money functional MVP to a select-group of beta testers on the platform.

Location: Dallas, Texas

Co-Founder & CEO: Haafiz Abdurrahim, haafiz@riftpay.io, riftpay.io

SoLo Funds enables an online community where members can request and fund short-term needs. SoLo is a multifaceted advanced lending solution powered by individual capital, enabled by insurance and A.I. SoLo provides an alternative to short-term loans that are non-predatory, simple, and community-driven. SoLo is an LA-based Delaware C-Corp. Since 2018, SoLo has processed 100,000+ loans, redefined lending for 300,000+ users and is currently on a $4.5M annualized run-rate.

Location: Los Angeles, California

Co-Founder & CEO: Travis Holoway, travis@solofunds.com, solofunds.com

Tip a ScRxipt offers a last-dollar payment solution for prescription expenses. Through prescription-only payment accounts, Tip a ScRxipt allows members to request and collect financial contributions from family and friends, healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies. Tip a ScRxipt was named one of the 21 startups to watch in 2021 by Milwaukee Business Journal – Wisconsin Inno.

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Founder & CEO: Chad Johnson, info@tipascrxipt.com, tipascrxipt.com

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.