Supporting BIPOC Startup Founders to Succeed: IDEAfuel Founders Spotlight

In late 2021, The Idea Village partnered with AT&T to create IDEAfuel, a new 6-month program to uplift and support local Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) founders as they grow their startups. The program is designed to bridge the capital and sustained mentorship gap for founders of color who complete early-stage accelerator programs, such as The Idea Village’s 10-week idea-stage accelerator, IDEAinstitute.

The first IDEAfuel awardees, Eddie Davis and Arielle Brown, are the founders for this pilot program who are each receiving 6 months of intensive individualized coaching from an Idea Village Entrepreneur-in-Residence, along with a non-dilutive cash grant to help grow their venture to the next stage. At New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) 2022, Mayor of the City of New Orleans LaToya Cantrell and Eric Jones of AT&T helped to celebrate Davis of Top Prospect and Brown of Bea’s Bayou Skincare by presenting them with the inaugural IDEAfuel checks for $15,000 each.

“The goal of IDEAfuel is to strengthen the diversity of the Greater New Orleans regional startup community and help specifically address racial barriers that have historically infringed on BIPOC founders' startup success compared to non-BIPOC founders. The IDEAfuel program represents a needed investment in supporting founders of color with direct funding and resources that can help grow their startups to the next level.” - Jon Atkinson, CEO of The Idea Village

Meet the first IDEAfuel founders:
Eddie Davis & Arielle Brown

Each of these founders has had a unique entrepreneurial journey.

EDDIE DAVIS | Top Prospect

Eddie Davis is a professional athlete turned sports tech startup founder. Before starting Top Prospect, Davis played in the Los Angeles Dodgers Organization, was selected as the 23rd pick from the 1993 Major League Draft (1993-1999), and also played in the 1993 College World Series as a member of the Long Beach State Baseball Team (who were also known as the ‘Dirt Bags’). 

Inspired by his passion and experience in sports of over 30 years, Davis decided to start a company with his son called Top Prospect: an NFT marketplace that allows young athletes, artists, professionals, and their organizations to fundraise and gain exposure.

Davis shared with The Idea Village how his experience so far in IDEAfuel has shaped the growth of Top Prospect.

"The IDEAFuel program is important to startups like Top Prospect because most of the time, founders of color or underrepresented minorities do not have access to seed funds that can be used to bring ideas to life. Or, if they do have access, usually, the founder has to give up some equity. The non-dilutive funds we received from the IDEAfuel program were used to bring our idea to life. We were able to finish our NFT marketplace platform to launch our Beta on schedule! Initially, I thought the money would be the most valuable asset received from the program, but so far, it has been the mentorship and community support from participating in the program that was the true value add."

ARIELLE BROWN | Bea’s Bayou Skincare

Arielle Brown is a Licensed Master Social Worker, realtor, and now skincare entrepreneur. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown created scalp drops to help address her condition called seborrheic dermatitis. Soon after, Brown began selling her scalp drop mixture on Etsy and demand for her product grew. That led to the start of Brown's business growth, where she then decided it was time to develop her own dedicated website and business plan for her venture. Today, Brown is the founder of Bea’s Bayou Skincare, an herbal, probiotic scalp care brand that is growing and bringing together a community of people with problematic eczema-prone scalp and skin. 

Bea’s Bayou Skincare has been accepted to participate in multiple programs throughout the past years to help her business grow, including: Founder Gym, Black Girl Ventures, Fearless Fund’s Get Venture Ready, Jrue & Lauren Holiday Fund, Madame CJ Walker/PACE Institute, Amazon's 1st Black Business Accelerator, IDEAinstitute, and now IDEAfuel. 

Brown says, “Through programs like IDEAfuel, I see Bea's Bayou becoming a household name, and I'm forever grateful that this journey found me.”

Brown shared with The Idea Village how her experience so far in IDEAfuel has shaped the growth of Bea’s Bayou Skincare:

“I’m grateful to The Idea Village for creating IDEAfuel and taking a bold approach to directly address needs [for BIPOC founders] such as expert mentorship and access to capital. My coach is fantastic and an entrepreneur as well, so he understands the demands on me as a founder and the need for continuous advice and introductions. The entire Idea Village family cares about my progress, so I'm excited to be a part of it in any way. My company, Bea's Bayou Skincare, has benefited from exposure and funds to pay for PR services. I'm excited to continue growing with the support of this community!”

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If you are a BIPOC alum of IDEAinstitute and are interested in learning more about IDEAfuel click here to fill out the interest form. 

If you are interested in learning more about IDEAinstitute, click here.