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Inside a Design Fund Accelerator
The Design Fund accelerators have one goal: to help entrepreneurs succeed. During each 6-day program, we surround companies with the best mentors and an unrivaled network of corporate partners, investors, and alumni. We provide funding and fundraising opportunities, workshops and curated resources, not to mention countless moments where you can learn from your peers. It’s a proven model that’s helped build thousands of successful companies, all over the world.
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Investors + Experts
The Design Fund is not your typical accelerator and pre-seed fund. We specialize in helping founders and startups who are focused on developing concepts within the home goods and interior design space, specifically. Then, we align our cohorts with an investor pool comprised of brands, and people from within the design, home goods and appliances space, who have committed to investing into business ideas within this space.
About our investors
Our investors are independent brands and people that have made an annual commitment of funds. That if given, and presented with, the right opportunity, may deploy those funds and expertise into a business or concept. Our investor network has skin-in-the-game, by making an annual commitment of investable funds, then putting 20% of that commitment up in cash to fund the accelerator programs that The Design Fund organizes throughout the year.
What makes this unique, is that our investor pool is made up of industry experts, that either work in, or own, the major brands that you see in stores and online, globally. Their experience and access to industry is unparalleled. Traditionally, startups like Wayfair, Houzz and Amazon have only leveraged these brands for their products. But by accessing these brands and experts as investors, means that our cohorts are better equipped to launch tech and innovations, with direct access to product and distribution.
We also go beyond the typical investor/accelerator model, by pairing up startups with brands, for collaborations, such as licensing and product development opportunities.
Experts + Corporations
The Design Fund is not just a pre-seed fund. We have access to an entire industry of experts from major brands and corporations. We have partnered with brands to leverage corporate experts from marketing, packaging, shipping, distribution, product development, omni-channel marketing, ecommerce, corporate governance and much, much, more.
These experts volunteer both their locations and their time to host events, and to mentor our cohort members, both in-person and remote. Giving our cohort programs a major competitive advantage, when developing concepts that require experience or relationships that may otherwise be impossible to establish on your own. The brands involved have a major opportunity to give back, and help ensure that up and coming tech, has the tools and experience necessary to make a positive impact.
Startups + Founders
Whether you are an interior designer, a tile rep, a warehouse manager, an architect or a startup founder from another industry...If you have a concept or product that needs the attention, expertise or experience of the home goods, build materials, or interoir design industry, The Design Fund is the place to start.
In partnership with our investors, corporate partners and industry, The Design Fund hosts 6-Day Accelerators throughout the United States, to help rapidly prototype your concept and prepare you to pitch in front of our investor pool. Our accelerators are designed to help you quickly hone in your concept, develop your MVP, and present your opportunity for feedback and investment. Then, we stay committed to you for an entire 12-month period, to help you achieve your funding goals, by introducing you to investors both inside of our pool, and to outside investors.
Our mission is to help you succeed.
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