The Grove in Dallas is teaming up with Unreasonable Institute to host a 5-day accelerator for early/idea-stage entrepreneurs tackling social and environmental problems.

Aug. 2, 2016

Local green entrepreneurs and business leaders can get help kick starting their projects when the Grove coworking community in Dallas hosts a 5-day business accelerator workshop Sept. 12-16. The event is a partnership with Unreasonable Institute, a Colorado-based 501 3c nonprofit that helps entrepreneurs addressing social issues such as the environment, education and poverty take their ideas to the next level. Deadline to apply is Aug. 15.  

“Unreasonable Institute” may sound like a strange name, but the Grove co-founder Justin Nygren explains that the name refers to a George Bernard Shaw quote – “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.  Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”    

The Grove Nygren says that Unreasonable Institute, a business accelerator focused on impact businesses around the world, has been running a five-day intensive training accelerator in Boulder but is now licensing their model to partners around the world.  

Justin Nygren, cofounder of the Grove in the foreground with Grove members. 

“So my team and I at The Grove are now the North Texas partners at Unreasonable Institute launching the program here.”  

To learn what transpires over the course of this opportunity, other pertinent information and to enroll, go here.  

Nygren says that close to 20 companies have completed, or are in the process of completing, their applications.

“Prospective participants were found by using several channels. One was our networking communities through The Grove. Then, there is an online platform that these programs use that allows you to specifically search for these types of companies and invite them to apply. Many of the companies to which we reached out are already familiar with the global brand of Unreasonable Institute.”

Final selection of applicants isn’t finished, but will be finalized in approximately three weeks. So far, two environmental companies have applied, one being The Great Seed Bomb, a Keller-based nonprofit founded by Jillian Jordan, which hosts a 15-mile bike ride wherein riders throw seed balls made of clay, organic compost and native non-GMO milkweed and wildflower seed to promote habitat for monarchs, bees and other pollinators.  

Accelerators will provide access to two main resources for startups and entrepreneurs. Number one – needed tools to validate the business’ model, which includes resources like the business model canvass, i.e. a tool used to team things like the customer base and outside partners. Rapid prototyping, a process by which you test your assumption about your business and then make changes quickly before taking a product to market, will also be covered. Secondly, there will be a full day where potential mentors from around North Texas will be paired with each entrepreneur for what is hoped to be a long-term relationship in their respective industries.  

Cost for one person from a team to go through the lab is $300; for a two-person team, cost is $500.  This is inclusive of all materials, lunches and all supplies needed for the week.  

“Myself being one of the owners of an impact-focused company in working space, I know that there is a need for this type of information and these type of resources for social impact entrepreneurs,” says Nygren. “We saw a gap to what was being offered to the traditional startup community and the social entrepreneur community. The social entrepreneur community are addressing social issues such as environmental, education and poverty.”

Unreasonable Lab North Texas

What: a 5-day accelerator for early/idea-stage entrepreneurs tackling social and environmental problems.

Who: Hosted by the Grove, a Dallas coworking community and Unreasonable Institute, a Boulder-based nonprofit. 

When: Sept. 12-16. Deadline to apply is Aug. 15.

Where: The Grove, 501 Elm St., Dallas

Cost: $300. $500 for a two-person team.

Website

 

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