The Problems We Address

 

Starting up.  There is a large attrition rate during the startup phase of new companies:  many fail very early in the initial development phase, never gaining enough traction to attract sufficient customers and/or financial support.  The key reason for that is that the management team, while very able and highly motivated, lacks some key business skills and/or experiences.

 

Scaling up.  During the later growth stages, companies are often unable to adapt to the requirements of scaling the business up and continue in the rut of business-as-usual.  Consequently, they miss growth opportunities; or worse, they lose out to competition altogether and fade away.

Operating Sustainably.  Even small businesses are becoming aware of the need to adopt more sustainable business practices, but they don’t quite know where to begin that transition, how to assess their current impacts, and how to define appropriate sustainability initiatives.

Our primary focus is on early-stage startups.

The Solutions We Offer

To the companies in our Greenhouse accelerator, we provide the following:

• A lead mentor, together with a mentoring team, for the duration of the acceleration period of approximately two years;
• Regular meetings (at least monthly) to discuss on-going business and key issues;
• Specific help as needed through subject matter experts and industry meetings/introductions;
• The combined wisdom/know-how/experience of the Green Chamber’s membership base, as well as the help of non-member experts;
• Seed capital in the form of loans up to an amount of about $50,000;
• Interactive educational workshops for the entrepreneurs, their advisors and industry guests.
• Quarterly forum amongst the entrepreneurs.
• Networking with other Green Chamber members.

Assets We Bring to the Process

• Ability to contribute know-how and experience from the Green Chamber member base - about 140 companies, of all sizes and business types, from a great variety of industries;
  
• Ability to recruit additional help from outside of the Chamber;
• Willingness to work with early-stage startups, even if their business plans are less-than-perfect – we help getting them “angel ready” (if capital is what they need);
• Ability to provide bridge loans, prior to third party equity financing;
• Networking opportunities among companies and individuals active in a similar space;
• Ability to share best practices;
• Ability, as a non-profit organization, to offer advice on a pro-bono basis.