The accelerator that fuels the growth of women-led companies is excited to welcome its newest cohort.
The Refinery builds the capabilities of companies with at least one woman in a leadership role, helping these companies scale and raise capital.
The Refinery’s 2016 Winter Advanced Program is three months, starting in February, culminating at the end of April. Through a personalized curriculum, and structured mentoring, companies develop a growth and funding strategy that is supported by an engaged community of peers, advisors and investors.
The Refinery received more applications than ever before for the program, and through a collaborative screening process selected the highest quality companies for the cohort.
Strategic relationships and partnerships with organizations that have similar values and missions, such as Connecticut Innovations, Springboard Enterprises, Astia, Canaan Partners and Angel Investor Forum has provided a boost in the quality of applicants.
From 2011–2013, women led companies received only 2.7% of venture capital funding. The Refinery was founded in mid-2014 to fuel the growth of women-led companies and close this funding gap.
In 18 months, The Refinery has achieved rapid results: 26 companies mentored by 70+ subject expert mentors, through three program cycles, raised $7 million+ in funds.
“We are poised to take The Refinery and its impact on companies to the next level by focusing on companies raising Series A funding and launching a business plan competition in the Fall which will draw companies from all over New England and the Mid-Atlantic”, said Jen Gabler, Co-Founder of The Refinery.
The 2016 Winter Advanced Class includes:
Freedible. Because food is not one-size-fits-all. A social marketplace for custom eaters, and the bloggers and brands that feed them.
GemShelf. GemShelf enables teams to manage all their files and web content in one place.
HugoPhr. A personal health information platform for everyone.
Listenable. Digital publishers can offer their readers a pleasant voice narration of their web content with an easy, full-service digital workflow from Listenable.
Wellinks. Wellinks is a wearable medical device company dedicated to making orthotics and prosthetics smarter.