The Idea Village received a $500,000 grant to expand its entrepreneur support programs.
The New Orleans-based nonprofit support center received the U.S. Secretary of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration grant to develop and scale its idea accelerator program IDEAinstitute. The funds will be used to serve other entrepreneurs and expand the reach of the program to underserved communities.
The grant was awarded on April 1 and funded by the American Rescue Plan. The EDA investment will be matched by $125,000 in local funds, according to a press release.
The Idea Village produces New Orleans Entrepreneur Week every March as a week of celebrating startups. The event returned this year with in-person events for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It was canceled in 2020 a few weeks before its scheduled start and was held virtually in 2021.
“This critical investment from EDA will help New Orleans double the startup success it has enjoyed over the past 12 months,” Jon Atkinson, CEO of The Idea Village, said in a statement. “State and federal support has been essential in getting us to where we are today and has helped build the unique community-led model that has helped propel New Orleans into the national conversation. as a hub of innovation. This, along with the momentum generated by last month’s NOEW, is the start of a major reinvestment in the next generation of local founders who will be our next winning startups. We know the model works. Now we need to scale it.
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