Propeller: A Force For Social Innovation has selected 31 startups addressing issues in food access, water management, health, and educational equity to join the Startup track of its Impact Accelerator.
The selected startups are a mix of for-profit, non-profit, and hybrid ventures who will launch their initial pilots and gain first customers throughout the three month program.
“Our Startup Accelerator is where we see some of the most exciting, meaningful growth among our ventures,” said Propeller Executive Director Andrea Chen. “This year’s class represents some of New Orleans’ most promising emerging ideas in food, water, health, and education, and we are excited to help them turn those ideas into tested, viable solutions.”
Around this time last year Propeller announced it would be expanding programming to serve more entrepreneurs. The organization also offers a Growth Accelerator designed to help social entrepreneurs in New Orleans grow and scale their solutions.
“Propeller’s vision is to build a critical mass of entrepreneurs tackling key challenges from multiple angles,” Chen shared. “We have shown that collaboration is essential to drive progress, and the more entrepreneurs we have working together, the faster and more effectively we can create measurable impact.”
Find out more about each Startup Accelerator venture below:
Food Access
- Agrowtopia, a student-centric, organic urban farm that provides affordable produce to Gert Town residents, surrounding farm-to-table businesses, and Xavier University.
- Descant Ranch, a carbon-neutral blueberry farm in Washington Parish connecting local farmers with the resources and information to promote long-term financial and agricultural sustainability in the region.
- Garden on Mars, a non-profit urban garden project to increase access to fresh produce and promote financial self-sustainability for residents of Lower 9th Ward by providing them with the tools, resources, and knowledge to grow fresh food and flowers.
- G’s Grocery Provisions (GroPro), an online local grocery platform providing on-demand delivery of local grocery retail for individuals with limited or no access to reliable transportation.
- Mothers & Caretakers Mending Family Foundations, a catering business devoted to creating and growing financial and food security safety nets for families fractured by inequality.
- New Orleans Eat Local Challenge, an initiative to increase the awareness of the nutritional, economic, cultural, and environmental benefits of eating locally sourced foods in the Greater New Orleans area.
- Sugar Roots Farm, a non-profit urban farm fostering physical wellness and positive environmental impact in metro New Orleans through farm-to-fork education and sustainable, free-range agricultural methods.
- The University Medical Center Urban Farm, an urban farm on the University Medical Center campus in Mid-City focused on redefining food culture in a healthcare setting to reduce the burden of obesity-related chronic diseases.
Water Management
- Coastal Communities Consulting (CCC), a non-profit organization providing technical assistance, economic development, social services, and disaster recovery services to rural entrepreneurs and their families.
- The GlassLand Project, an initiative to help restore the coastal wetlands through the collection, transportation, and installation of regional glass waste.
- Louisiana Coastal Services, Inc., a multi-disciplined professional service firm assisting clients in the coastal parishes of Louisiana in transactional legal services, land broker services, and grant management while promoting environmentally-friendly usage of Louisiana’s coast.
- Landscape Metrics, a data visualization design studio inspiring public engagement around environmental issues from local water quality to global change by transforming complex datasets into compelling visual narratives.
- Maritant, an innovative sales platform that connects engineers, shipbuilders, and vessel operators with preferred vendor equipment data.
- Triple N Oyster Farm, a Grand Isle-based oyster farm devoted to creating sustainable oyster growing technologies for Louisiana.
Health
- Bike Rite, a cycling club promoting physical activity in New Orleans black communities by introducing and increasing access to cycling.
- The Hite Law Group, a law group bridging the “justice gap” in New Orleans by providing high quality legal counsel at low rates, specializing in serving, protecting, and supporting the health and well-being of the LGBTQ community and survivors of intimate partner violence.
- Lift Louisiana, an advocacy group improving health outcomes for women and children in Louisiana by advocating for all citizens to have the resources, information, rights, and ability to make their own decisions and to access reproductive healthcare.
- Louvis Services, a housing solution serving the New Orleans homeless community by repurposing shipping containers into safe, affordable rental housing units where residents can develop financial sustainability and emotional wellness.
- Pine Biotech, a “software as a service” informatics platform for commercial research scientists and biomedical researchers, enabling discovery of molecules, vaccines, and other cellular pathways.
- PrepBiz, a mobile application focused on using game-based technology to combat disaster trauma in youth.
- Ready Responders, a community paramedicine group improving access and quality to healthcare while reducing response times by integrating part-time Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) into municipal 911 systems (EMS).
- Santosha, A sustainable, self-regulated transitional village of small homes focused on providing affordable housing to the homeless of community of New Orleans to aid in their integration back into society.
- Well Therapeutic Services, a New Orleans-based clinic serving patients from all walks of life by providing preventative healthcare and therapeutic services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, mental health services, adjunctive therapies, and wellness education and classes.
Educational Equity
- College Beyond, a non-profit organization leveraging the power of relationships to guide students through the academic, social, and financial transition from high school success to college persistence.
- Electric Girls, a non-profit organization that develops New Orleans area girls into confident leaders and role models in technology by creating a community where girls can learn science, technology, engineering, and math skills with and from each other.
- IT’S LIT: Words on Ice, a project of the non-profit organization Big Class launching a mobile youth writing center and sno-ball stand to support the voices of young writers and provide summer employment opportunities to New Orleans youth in their own neighborhoods.
- Kids of Excellence Child Development Center, a private, non-profit childcare center providing quality early childhood education and community resources to young children in at-risk communities in New Orleans.
- Overcoming Racism, a non-profit organization providing training and consulting services to help guide schools and teachers through the process of developing anti-racist educators.
- The Southern History Project, a non-profit organization increasing the number of students from the American South who graduate college through the development and implementation of engaging, relevant social studies curricula tailored to southern schools.
- TrainingGrounds, an L3C providing evidence-informed, on-site programming to parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators serving ages birth to five years in the greater New Orleans area.
- Whole Village Art Therapy, a non-profit organization providing holistic, community-based art therapy programming in the Broadmoor, Hollygrove, and Central City neighborhoods to promote community and improve access to mental health services, regardless of insurance restrictions or financial hardship.