Washington, DC (July 5th, 2023) – Village Capital, in partnership with Zuora and with support from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation (HPE), launched the second accelerator program, Sustainability Subscribed, for startups in the United States employing subscription or recurring revenue models to fight climate change and advance sustainability. The accelerator is an ongoing initiative to expand access and leverage the subscription economy for good.
Applications are now open and will close on July 24th, 2023. Full details and eligibility criteria can be found here.
The program will support 10-12 startups in the US employing subscriptions, recurring revenue, or as-a-service models to fight climate change and advance sustainability, including those that:
As climate change continues to rise, its devastating impacts fall disproportionately upon underserved communities who are least able to prepare for, and recover from them. Therefore, companies led by diverse founders and those directly benefiting underserved communities will take priority.
From September to December 2023, the selected entrepreneurs will participate in three interactive workshops (virtual) and one program summit (in person). The tailored, award-winning curriculum helps companies develop the necessary networks and tools to scale their impact and connect them with investors, mentors, and peers for one-on-one feedback and support.
In addition, all selected startups will receive $5,000 in grant capital for milestone support. The top two peer-selected startups will receive equity-free grant funding of USD $50,000 to support operations.
All startups that apply to the program will also receive an invitation to join Abaca, Village Capital’s online global network that helps entrepreneurs articulate how ready they are for investment or their next big expansion. The platform provides a diagnostic tool and matches them with relevant investors and resources.
For more information, reach out to Sofía Cándano at Village Capital (sofia.candano@vilcap.com).
About Village Capital
Village Capital helps entrepreneurs bring big ideas from vision to scale. Our mission is to reinvent the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Our vision is a future where business creates equity and long-term prosperity. Since 2009, we have supported more than 1,400 early-stage entrepreneurs through our investment readiness programs. Our affiliated fund, VilCap Investments, has invested in more than 110 program graduates.
About Zuora
Zuora provides a leading monetization platform for recurring revenue businesses across all industries, enabling companies to unlock and grow customer-centric business models. After starting with Zuora Billing in 2007, Zuora’s award-winning multi-product portfolio now also includes Zuora Revenue, Zuora Collect, and Zephr, all powered by the Zuora Platform. Zuora serves as an intelligent hub that monetizes and orchestrates the complete quote to cash and revenue recognition process at scale. Through its industry leading technology and expertise, Zuora helps more than 1,000 companies around the world, including BMC Software, Box, Caterpillar, General Motors, Penske Media Corporation, Schneider Electric, Siemens and Zoom nurture and monetize direct, digital customer relationships. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Zuora operates offices around the world in the Americas, EMEA and APAC. To learn more about the Zuora monetization platform, please visit www.zuora.com.
About HPE Foundation
The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation has operated since November 2015, with a history of impacting communities reaching back to 1979 through our activities as part of the former Hewlett-Packard Company Foundation. We continue this tradition of community involvement and our belief in being a force for good by deploying skills, resources, and technology to address social challenges and advance the way people live and work. We collaborate with nonprofit organizations and provide grants to drive progress in three strategic focus areas – Healthcare; Community Resiliency; and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Human Rights – while engaging HPE employees to volunteer and help drive impact, empowering them to make meaningful contributions in the communities where they live and work.