Venture Catalysts

Startups, Entrepreneurs, Investors and Innovators
Inclusive Ecosystem Builders
WHAT WE DO
Venture Catalysts is a 501c3 non-profit that builds inclusive ecosystems through the development and strategic support for large-scale ecosystem partnerships, entrepreneurship events, funding, and growth programs. We create ecosystem-as-a-service (EaaS) to help founders gain acceleration, investment, or revenue growth. We help entrepreneurs and corporate/org partners find optimized, custom ecosystem paths.
WHAT WE'VE ALREADY DONE
CREATING IMPACT

45,000
Attendees / Participants
69%
Diverse Founders
Largest Inaugural
Startup Week in the Country

40+
Founded Companies
Most Diverse
Startup Week in the Country
$10M+
Company Funding Raised
ACCESS & GROWTH
Attract Talent to Enter or Scale Within The Ecosystem

Detroit Startup Week
5-Day Celebration of Detroit Entrepreneurship
Tentative: June 21 - 25, 2021
Detroit Startup Weekend
3-Day Business Hackathon
ACCELERATION
Cohort Programs Accelerating Early-Stage Growth

Startup Boost Detroit
6-Week Pre-Accelerator
April 5, 2021 - May 10, 2021; Demo Day: June 9
App Deadline: March 22, 2021

Backstage Detroit Accelerator
3-Month Early Stage Accelerator
TBD
INVESTMENT & DEALFLOW
Second-Stage Acceleration, Partnerships + Founder Support

Catalyst Fund & Venture Scout Programs
Ecosystem Focused, Founder-Contributed Fund
ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
Strategic Support for Founders, Mentors and Peers

Founders Dinners
Bi-monthly Invite Only Dinners For Founders
Venture Catalysts Fellows
Ecosystem Builders Partners & Mentorship Program
Design Challenges | Product Sprints
Solution-oriented Product / Strategy Labs For Founders & Corporate Innovation
Diversity & Inclusion - Events & Programs
Example: AfroTech Detroit (2018) 2-Day conference experience dedicated to highlighting Detroit as a technological hub for inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship.
PROGRAM PARTNERS & SPONSORS
STARTUP CAPITAL PARTNERS
Venture Catalysts Ecosystem Builders

Monica Wheat
Executive Director / Co-Founder / Partner
Amanda Lewan
Co-Founder / Partner
Kelly LaPierre
Co-Founder / Partner
Katrina Turnbow
Partner
Kyle Bazzy
Co-Founder
Tapan Kataria
Venture Partner

Startups, Entrepreneurs, Investors and Innovators

Inclusive Ecosystem Builders

WHAT WE DO

WHAT WE'VE ALREADY DONE

CREATING IMPACT

45,000

69%

Largest Inaugural

40+

Most Diverse

$10M+

ACCESS & GROWTH

Attract Talent to Enter or Scale Within The Ecosystem

Detroit Startup Week

5-Day Celebration of Detroit Entrepreneurship

Detroit Startup Weekend

3-Day Business Hackathon

ACCELERATION

Cohort Programs Accelerating Early-Stage Growth

Startup Boost Detroit

6-Week Pre-AcceleratorApril 5, 2021 - May 10, 2021; Demo Day: June 9

Backstage Detroit Accelerator

3-Month Early Stage Accelerator

INVESTMENT & DEALFLOW

Second-Stage Acceleration, Partnerships + Founder Support

Catalyst Fund & Venture Scout Programs

Ecosystem Focused, Founder-Contributed Fund

ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Strategic Support for Founders, Mentors and Peers

Founders Dinners

Bi-monthly Invite Only Dinners For Founders

Venture Catalysts Fellows

Ecosystem Builders Partners & Mentorship Program

Design Challenges | Product Sprints

Solution-oriented Product / Strategy Labs For Founders & Corporate Innovation

Diversity & Inclusion - Events & Programs

Example: AfroTech Detroit (2018) 2-Day conference experience dedicated to highlighting Detroit as a technological hub for inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship.

PROGRAM PARTNERS & SPONSORS

STARTUP CAPITAL PARTNERS

Venture Catalysts Ecosystem Builders

Monica Wheat

Executive Director / Co-Founder / Partner

Amanda Lewan

Co-Founder / Partner

Kelly LaPierre

Co-Founder / Partner

Katrina Turnbow

Partner

Kyle Bazzy

Co-Founder

Tapan Kataria

Venture Partner

6-Week Pre-Accelerator
April 5, 2021 - May 10, 2021; Demo Day: June 9