Breaking Lean is a brand new 11-month startup development program designed to support businesses in the Shreveport-Bossier area and to help them develop roots in Northern Louisiana. The program was launched by the innovative shared workspace in the area, CoHab.
“In Breaking Lean, area startups with the potential to grow rapidly in the next year are selected to battle test their ideas, develop their businesses and potentially connect with funding to help them grow. They set targets and milestones at the beginning of the year and are held accountable for meeting those milestones,” explains Jessica Schiele, director of programs at Cohab. “Their guides along the journey are some of the best and brightest business minds in our region and in their industries.”
Similar to other startup programs, the six companies will receive training, support from mentors, and the office space or facilities to grow their businesses.
Meet the first Breaking Lean cohort below:
- Lynxus, a social news app that allows users interact in real time
- Match My Monogram, an online resale marketplace for monogrammed items looking for a new owner with the same initials
- Panda Bit, a company selling used electronics that sends half of its resale revenue to charities
- Red River Brewing, a licensed and operating Shreveport microbrewery that hopes to expand to a 30-barrel brew house
- Tadpole Tape Cutter, a product that attaches to any roll of tape to allow users to make a clean, easy to use cuts
- Wheresie, a wearable child safety smart clip and app designed to prevent accidents and save lives
“All six startups we’ve identified are further along than just a concept. Some of them have revenues, some of them have customers, some of them are already in the marketplace,” said CoHab founder John Grindley. “These startups, though, are not fundable in the sense they cannot go after investment dollars because they need more traction.”