HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR 2021 IMPACT REPORT
2021 is a year that has challenged our collective ability to win and demanded more of our leaders’ empathy, attention, and patience.
The startup community isn’t immune to these challenges, and yet this year’s trials and tribulations haven’t stopped us from locking in some major new accomplishments while reaching new heights.
Below are a few highlights from our Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Impact Report that show how our Village continues to thrive, no matter what comes our way.
Highlights from our 2021 Impact Report:
This year, we hit 14,955 entrepreneurs served since our founding. A total of 95,130 mentor hours and $33 million in resources have been provided. 286 companies have gone through our accelerator program, who have collectively raised $439 million in capital.
Idea Village alumni are currently employing over 3,500 people in our market. We recently launched an alumni company job board, where you can find 75+ current job opportunities in the New Orleans area and 300+ jobs across the country.
Our 9 VILLAGEx 2021 companies created 80+ active jobs, generated $2.5 million in revenue, and raised over $9.5million in capital.
In our FY 2020-2021, we saw successful exits for two New Orleans-based technology businesses, Turbosquid and Whetstone -- and that’s before the record-breaking sales of Levelset and Lucid this fall.
In Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, we graduated 79 entrepreneurs from the IDEAinstitute program that helps idea-stage founders and aspiring entrepreneurs turn their ideas into high-growth, scalable business models. This year, we doubled down on efforts to diversify our pipeline of entrepreneurs by offering 44 scholarships to IDEAinstitute, totaling $10,125.
New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) 2021 was turned into a fully virtual experience, featuring 80 sessions with 137 speakers over a span of 5 days, and included keynote sessions from Brad Feld, Nina Compton, Walter Isaacson, Eldora L Ellison, Marlon Nichols, and Christina Wallace. We made a concerted effort to make sure our speakers reflected the diversity of our great city, and are proud to say that 47% of speakers identified as Black or African-American, and 51% identified as women.
In partnership with GNO Inc., Xavier University of Louisiana, Dillard University, and South University of New Orleans, we helped to facilitate a day-long bootcamp for the first HBCU Entrepreneurship Internship Program to help prepare a group of 12 students for their summer internships at tech startups in the New Orleans area.
The New Orleans ecosystem is blooming each year with entrepreneurial ventures and breeding new talent for the next generation. We are so proud of the relentless entrepreneurs who continue to bring innovative ideas to the region. Together, we are building a brighter future for New Orleans. We’re so grateful to you for being a part of our Village.