Business Accelerator Cohort No. 3: Gracious

Photo provided by Gracious

Dan Seawel, Gracious

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Growing up, Dan Seawel remembers watching his father, a pastor, spend countless hours searching through computer files to prepare for sermons. If he asked his dad about a particular topic or scripture verse, for example, he says his dad would reply, “Well, it’s in here somewhere.”

“The biggest problem was that he had no way to search them,” Seawel says.

Not only were the files unorganized, Seawel says his father’s work wasn’t secure.

“He was one corrupted hard drive away from losing it all,” he says.

A website and app developer by trade, Seawel says he learned this problem wasn’t unique among ministers.

So, he created Gracious.

“Gracious is web and mobile software designed specifically for pastors to prepare, present and preserve their sermons,” he says.

“The payoff for pastors is that you’re able to come up with your own searchable, shareable sermon library.”

Seawel says he hopes to launch the app this summer and plans to charge a monthly $5 fee. He says he might eventually create a tiered pricing structure depending on how much data a user stores through the app.

Seawel’s no stranger to software development – he created the apps for former accelerator participant Let’s Do Lunch and 2018 co-participant SelectSitter. He says hopes the accelerator increases his knowledge regarding marketing, developing relationships and running a business.

“It pays greater dividends than just the $30,000 investment,” Seawel says.