Deadline: January 10, 2025
Applications are open for the Sage Impact Entrepreneurship Program – United States 2025. The program will focus on fostering a community of visionary leaders who can drive systemic change through innovation and collaboration. In partnership with Sage Foundation, each year, the program will support 12-13 early-stage and underrepresented startups based in the US through its Annual Core Cohort offering tailored mentoring, Sage’s product support, grants, and strategic training.
An additional 14-16 US-based formation-stage startups will join the Annual Community Cohort and have access to various resources, including a curated digital platform, asynchronous tools, and visibility through Village Capital’s website and social channels. All participating startups will receive two years of post-program support to strengthen their impact and scale their solutions.
Benefits
Core Cohort
- Advice: An invitation to participate in mock board meetings with representatives from relevant institutions, corporations, and investors that can help scale their solutions and startups.
- Continued Learning: Four interactive workshops tailored to help their startup identify early milestones and prepare them for the next round of capital (if relevant).
- Financial Analysis: Access to one-to-one coaching with an investment analyst focused on building a financial model, identifying unit economics, and using financial metrics to drive their business and investor diligence.
- Funding: The top two Core Cohort peer-selected startups will receive USD 50K in grant capital, and the next two highest-ranked startups will receive USD 25K each from Sage Foundation to further scale their solutions. The remaining Core Cohort startups will receive USD 10K in grant capital for milestone support.
- Mentorship: Ability to meet with and receive mentorship from potential strategic partners, customers, and other founders, as well as mentors and founders within the climate and sustainability space.
- Networking: Ability to network and receive mentorship from prominent US investors and business leaders.
- Travel Stipend: Startups will receive a stipend to cover travel-related expenses for one team member associated with the Program Summit in Atlanta, GA, US.
- Sage Product
Both Cohorts
- Community Support: Join a community of support and a suite of investment-readiness resources, including a curated digital platform, asynchronous tools, and visibility through Village Capital’s website and social channels.
- Exposure: The Core and Community cohorts will benefit from exposure to Village Capital’s program website and other communications collateral.
- Support Post-Program: All participating startups will receive two years of post-program support to enhance their impact and scale their solutions.
Eligibility
Eligible startups must have:
- Legal incorporation as a for-profit entity, including B Corp-certified companies.
- Headquarters or operations in the US.
- Market-based solutions that directly tackle the following verticals:
- Clean Energy Transition
- Biodiversity and Nature-Based Solutions
- Smart Mobility and Sustainable Infrastructure
- Sustainable Supply Chain and Manufacturing
- Circular Resource Solutions
- Climate-Resilient Health and Wellness
- Disaster-Resilient Housing and Community Planning
- Climate Finance and Insurance Innovation
- Environmental Justice and Social Equity
- Data Analytics and Climate Intelligence
- A minimum viable product (MVP) and have raised less than USD 1.5M in equity.
- At least one full-time founder based in the US.
- Meaningful customer or business validation (not limited to revenue, but can also be successful pilot studies, number of users, and/or strategic partnerships).
Note: Startups are encouraged to apply even if they don’t meet all the listed requirements. Applicants will be assessed based on their stage of maturity and the eligibility criteria to determine placement in either the Core or Community Cohort. All selected participants will be notified of their cohort placement upon selection.
Application
For more information, visit Sage Impact Entrepreneurship Program.
