Applications Open For Innovative Small Business Accelerator Program

A small business growth initiative powered by the City of Austin and the IC² Institute of The University of Texas at Austin

The City of Austin Economic Development Department is investing in the growth of Austin’s small businesses by offering the FASTFORWARD Entrepreneur Training Program.

The FASTFORWARD program is an intensive 10 week training developed and led by the IC² Institute of The University of Texas at Austin.

The program is offered to existing small businesses headquartered in Austin with existing products and services that embrace innovation, i.e., those who are ready to utilize new technology, offer novel business models, and/or pursue fresh markets to create enhanced value for their enterprise.

The City’s Small Business Program is subsidizing the majority of the cost to make FASTFORWARD available to 20 innovative businesses selected from the application and interview process. Selected participants are required to invest $250 and attend all scheduled sessions.

Participants who attend all training sessions and deliver a final presentation will receive a FASTFORWARD Entrepreneurial Program Completion Certificate issued by the IC² Institute presented at City Hall in the Council Chambers.

Participants will work as a team and be trained to:

• measurable economic opportunity for a validated market problem
• the business through offering a superior and articulated solution to the defined market problem
• a financial model for the economic opportunity the solution offers the business
• the solution using the FASTFORWARD go-to-market strategy to realize the defined economic opportunity.

Accelerate your business and apply at www.SmallBizAustin.org or call 512-974-7800 for more information. Application Deadline: June 30, 2017.

The IC² Institute is a globally recognized “think and do” component of The University of Texas at Austin whose mission is to engage in current-edge research to enhance the solving of unstructured problems related to market economies, wealth creation, growth and prosperity through entrepreneurial activity and the commercialization of technological innovation.