Startup Capital Through Accelerators

“Startup capital is always a challenge, especially being African-American entrepreneurs, we don’t have a network we can pull from,” says SueAnn Hollowell, CEO of Optikal. Hollowell says she and COO, Norman Stuart put $20,000 of their own money into the company during their research phase. “What we realized was; for our ‘friends and family round,’ we started to look towards accelerators. For us, that was a way to get money into the business while also getting mentorship and connections,” Hollowell says. Stuart says using accelerators has helped them refine their business model, gather needed data and enhance their website to improve customer experience. Hollowell says the efactory Accelerator has also given them the opportunity to meet potential investors.

Duration: 3:36