A showcase of the partnerships and people who make Baton Rouge a true HOT SPOT for innovators ... like CHARLIE DAVIS, whose company Moxey is disrupting the world of financial transactions
• SUCCESS STORIES
• EXPERT ADVICE
• EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
To all those in the Capital City who think outside the box and aren’t afraid to take chances, welcome to Startup City, a special publication that aims to inspire, inform and highlight existing and future entrepreneurs in Baton Rouge.
Startup City introduces you to local entrepreneurs who have found success with their innovative ideas, strong work ethic, and courage to bring their visions to life. It takes focus, resilience and passion to look beyond the horizon and imagine a new reality … and the individuals featured in this publication possess all of those qualities.
As for myself, Baton Rouge has always been the X-factor in my entrepreneurial story. It was the world-class education I received at Baton Rouge High that enabled me to earn perfect ACT and SAT scores and inspired me to help other students reach their academic potential. MasteryPrep’s founding team of Baton Rouge natives defines our outcome-oriented, customer-obsessed culture. Our first customers—innovative, mission-driven Louisiana educators—challenged us to elevate our product to truly support struggling students. Collaboration with nationally recognized education innovators like Lucas Spielfogel at Baton Rouge Youth Coalition fueled our drive for continual improvement.
For 10 years, every dollar of capital came from a Louisiana source, with our steadfast Baton Rouge backers Sean and Jennifer Reilly, Innovation Catalyst, and Red Stick Angels leading the way. The Louisiana Technology Park and Nexus Louisiana incubated our little EdTech company from one employee teaching a few students all the way to this year’s milestone: half a million low-income and first-generation students served annually with high-quality college prep at no cost to their families.
I’ll be forever appreciative of my Startup City, Baton Rouge, and I hope that the stories and resources in this guide will inspire you to connect with all the right people, places and partners to make this vibrant, entrepreneurial community your Startup City, too!
CRAIG GEHRING Founder and CEO, MasteryPrep
COVID-19 was no kinder to Jason Hugenroth than most. Revenue waned at Inventherm, his research and product development firm at the LSU Innovation Park. So the mechanical engineer did what any inventor with 60 patents would do. He tinkered.
A year earlier, he’d watched a video in astonishment. YouTube depicted the laborious disassembly and sanitizing of soft-serve ice cream and frozen beverage machines that hadn’t changed much in 100 years. Worse, Hugenroth’s analysis indicated food establishments were losing $10,000 annually — per machine — to the process. Still worse, poorly sanitized machines had resulted in deaths from microbial contamination.
Soon, versions of ice cream machines filled his lab, and Hugenroth founded Cremmjoy. The startup expects to bring revolutionary machines to market by 2025. Although Hugenroth has built many prototypes for medical, industrial and consumer companies, Cremmjoy is his first venture beyond Inventherm.
“I always wanted to do something like this, but never hit on the right product,” said Hugenroth, an Alexandria native who returned to Louisiana in 2006 after engineering scroll compressors in Arkansas and completing his PhD at Purdue.
Hugenroth’s team designed the soft-serve sweet spot: a freezing and mixing system that separates food from the mechanical parts, so that never the twain shall touch. Cremmjoy renders daily disassembly obsolete. The machines place a premium on safety while lowering operating costs. To refine his product, Hugenroth secured USDA innovation grants ($750,000 to date), while Chief Development Officer Danny Fields led investor fundraising ($1.1 million to date; $2 million pending).
With yearly market demand exceeding 100,000 machines, the Cremmjoy opportunity approaches $1.5 billion annually. The company can produce 500 machines a year at Innovation Park, so expansion plans loom on the horizon.
“We’ve got tremendous interest in the product right now,” he said. “We are very optimistic about the market potential.”
Thirty-three Louisiana companies made the annual Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies, including 10 based in the Greater Baton Rouge area.
• 365 LABS, hardware & software tools
• ANYTIME FLOORING, flooring
• BLOCK BUILDERS, contractor
• CORE BOILER & MECHANICAL SERVICES, service & maintenance of combustion-fired equipment
• EMERGENT METHOD, management consulting
• FACILITIES MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT, construction
• GENESIS 360, maintenance & construction
• HUBLEY, software consulting
• MASTERY PREP, education
• PARKER’S PHARMACY, pharmaceutical
The complete list is at inc.com/inc5000
These local startups are worth watching!
TRACE SECURITY
Cybersecurity firm
4TH FLOOR CREATIVE AGENCY
Creative filmmaking
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Civil engineering
SMALL SLIDERS
Craveable, cheeseburger drive-thru
TRENDSIC CORPORATION
Software consulting, data management
EP BREAUX UTILITY SERVICES
Utility & energy services
SPEEDY EATS
Automated kitchen
MEZZO TECHNOLOGIES
Thermal product design & manufacturing
A Bureau of Labor Statistics report in August 2023 put Louisiana’s Capital City in the Top 10 fastest-growing metro economies in the country. Baton Rouge was listed as the 8th largest metro in the U.S., tied with Austin, Texas for the spot.
Young Entrepreneurs Academy of Baton Rouge (YEA BR) transforms area high school students into confident entrepreneurs. Now in its sixth year, more than 120 high school students have participated in the Academy, launching over 100 startups that have been filed with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office. Over the academic year (from September to April) and under the instruction of the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business, select students generate business ideas, write business plans, pitch to a panel of judges for seed funding, and launch their very own startups.
YEA BR combines a proven national curriculum with the experiences of Baton Rouge business leaders, educators, community members, and entrepreneurs. Every year, the Academy welcomes a diverse cohort of students from the nine-parish Baton Rouge Area. Upon graduation, students are eligible for three credit hours from the LSU College of Business.
For more information, visit yeabr.org.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Library helps businesses and nonprofits find the tools and resources to keep moving forward. Its SMALL BUSINESS SERVICE includes free programs, resources and tools to help businesses grow, and offers free consultations, including newly added walk-in “office hours” every Thursday, 4-6 p.m. Entrepreneurs are invited to bring their top challenges and questions to the business librarians, who provide guidance in the use of tools such as:
• Data Axle Reference Solutions
• Mergent Intellect
• Gale Business: Plan Builder
Contact the business librarians at smallbusiness@ebrpl.com
Founded in 2013, the LSU AgCenter’s Food Innovation Institute (FOODii) has helped launch dozens of companies representing more than 80 products, from salad dressings to bottled drinks ... including:
ALVIN RAY’S BAYOU BEST PICKLES | alvinrays.com
ETHELENE PRALINES | ethelenepralines.org
FIERY CRAB | fierycrab.com
HANLEY’S FOODS | hanleysfoods.com
MOMO EVELYN’S CAKES | momoevelynscakes.com
SWAMP DRAGON HOT SAUCE | swampdragonhotsauce.com
THE SOUTHERN ART COMPANY | southernartco.com
TRE’S STREET KITCHEN | tresstreetkitchen.com
Craig Gehring knew a thing or two about scoring well on standardized tests.
As a Baton Rouge Magnet High School student in the early 2000s, he earned perfect scores on both the ACT and SAT, triggering a flood of phone calls from parents eager to pay him for his secrets. Their requests sparked the establishment of his own tutoring business.
Years of working in the test-prep space led Gehring to consider the field’s larger implications, and before long, he dreamed up a business idea that would ultimately become a high growth education tech company with nationwide clients. Based at the Nexus Louisiana Tech Park, Gehring’s MasteryPrep provides test prep curricula to school districts around the country where students tend to struggle with standardized testing of all sorts. Addressing these inequities is one of MasteryPrep’s biggest differentiators, Gehring says. Just two years after its founding, MasteryPrep grew from two
school district clients to 100, and the company’s number of employees jumped from two to 40.
Today, MasteryPrep’s products are used by 3,000 nationwide schools and school districts and have touched more than a half million students. Gehring’s idea was timely. But he also credits an entrepreneurial landscape in Baton Rouge that helped him hone his business idea, connected him with mentors and created introductions with investors who helped scale the company.
“This is a community that values relationships and encourages growth,” entrepreneur Charlie Davis says. “There are just so many opportunities for partnerships.”
Davis, also a MasteryPrep co-founder, has started several companies in Baton Rouge. His latest is Moxey, a national network of local businesses leveraging community-backed currency. The company recently raised more than
$1 million in venture capital from investors in California, Texas and Colorado. “I think Baton Rouge is a great place to start a company, and a great place to grow a company,” Davis says.
Gehring and Davis are two of the nearly 1,800 entrepreneurs who have benefitted from Nexus Louisiana, a launchpad for tech start-ups founded in the mid-90s. The accelerator has shaped its programs to meet the changing needs of entrepreneurs, says Executive Director Stephen Loy.
“The amount of activity in the entrepreneurial landscape has increased multifold and that’s a great thing both for our organization and for the
Diego Pinzon and Amanda Ortiz of DAWn Audio show off their trophy from the 2023 Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week (BREW).
ecosystem in general,” Loy says. “As it’s changed, we’ve changed with it.”
Nexus offers accelerator programs to help startups in different stages of development. It hosts Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week (BREW), and regular PitchBR events in which Louisianabased companies present business ideas in a competitive setting. It also connects entrepreneurs to capital through its angel investor network.
Capital One Louisiana Market President David Mullens, chair of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s 2024 Board of Directors, says the region has developed numerous services to help burgeoning businesses accelerate, including BRAC’s Small Business Services program, which connects business owners with the resources they need to sustain momentum.
“Support services are available at every stage of the entrepreneurial journey,” Mullens says. “Our entrepreneurial ecosystem is growing at a faster rate than our peers, and entrepreneurs here are playing an increasingly important role in our economy.”
The rate of self-employed jobs rose 12% in the last three years and is the highest among the 40 peer metros that Baton Rouge was benchmarked against in a study conducted in 2018, Mullens adds.
To better serve the region’s growing small business community, BRAC established its small business services program to help entrepreneurs get connected to resources, networks, and information to grow.
Serving over 150 businesses each year, the program helps business owners in various growth stages offering services ranging from small business coaching, access to capital, workforce development, understanding incentives, and more.
The Capital Region is also home to LSU Innovation Park, a multi-faceted universitybased accelerator with a decades-long history of helping businesses launch and grow. Home to about 40 business tenants and about 200 acres of developable land, Innovation Park has supported more than 7,200 small businesses, and helped firms attract more than $192 million in equity, grants and loans.
The institution’s impact is becoming even broader as it has consolidated numerous businesses services under one roof, says Andrew Maas, Associate VP for Research, LSU Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development. Those include the Innovation & Technology Commercialization office, which helps move technologies from academic research into the marketplace, along with many state, federal and privately funding programs that support business growth.
“Now, when we walk down the hall, we crosspollinate,” Maas says. “So much of the startup world is about connections. It’s about linkages that get you to the next level.”
With so many resources under one roof, Innovation Park is better positioned to seek out big-dollar opportunities like the recent $160 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the largest, most competitive grant ever awarded by the NSF. The 10-year grant supports Louisiana’s energy transition. Innovation Park is the grant’s lead partner.
“The amount of activity in the entrepreneurial landscape has increased multifold and that’s a great thing both for our organization and for the ecosystem in general.”
— Stephen Loy, Nexus Executive Director
Elsewhere, other opportunities abound. Founded in 2013, the LSU AgCenter’s Food Innovation Institute (FOODii) has helped about 80 budding companies launch new food products, from salad dressings to bottled beverages. In 2020, FOODii opened a bottling plant capable of filling 25,000 bottles a day, and it is in the process of renovating a 14,000-square-foot space to bring on more tenants, expand production and add a retail store.
Starting Young Teenagers aren’t left out of the regional economic ecosystem. The Young Entrepreneurs Academy of Baton Rouge, founded in 2017, is a competitive eight-month boot camp for motivated high school students across the region. It is an affiliate of the Rochester, New York-based Young Entrepreneurs Academy. Students meet numerous business leaders, developing their own network of contacts. They work on business ideas throughout the year and present them during a final pitch night for a chance at seed funding. The organization creates a pipeline of entrepreneurial talent, says co-founder Deborah Sternberg.
“These students are now their own network of young people interested in business,” she says. “Whether they choose to start their own business or go to business school, they’re prepared for a lot of different future paths.”
The Economic Inclusion Symposium is hosted annually by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
DON KADAIROn an ordinary Wednesday, Charlie Davis pays for his coffee in an extraordinary way. Coffee Bean Café scans his gold card, but the transaction doesn’t go through a bank. No credit card company is involved. It’s a Moxey moment. Moxey’s proprietary financial system serves over 3,000 businesses from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, Memphis and Birmingham. They trade goods and services via IRSapproved transactions with the benefit of barter and the convenience of a credit card.
Davis is CEO of the 6-yearold startup. His customers are other small- to medium-sized businesses that rarely trade with each other in the same transaction. Instead, they’ll exchange architectural services, for instance, for Moxey dollars. Later, they’ll use Moxey money to buy pet care, clothing, furniture, jewelry, auto parts and more.
MOXEY FINANCIAL SYSTEM OF TRADING GOODS AND SERVICES WITH THE BENEFIT OF BARTER AND THE CONVENIENCE OF A CREDIT CARD
“It’s a community-backed currency that helps local business owners prosper,” Davis said. “I sometimes joke that it’s as if American Express and barter had a baby.”
Moxey recently raised $1.25 million in the firm’s largest venture capital round to date. Proceeds will broaden its business network in Louisiana and elsewhere. Businesses pay a membership fee to join, while a 10% commission on transactions generates operating revenue for Moxey.
Moxey won’t compete with banks but will complement them, Davis said. His company offers interest-free lines of credit that — like the transactions themselves — help preserve cash flow and build financial health.
Moxey’s name isn’t inspired by “Moxie,” the first U.S. mass-produced soft drink once promoted by slugger Ted Williams. It’s coined from “Medium Of Exchange,” reflecting the core purpose of money. Already, the company circulates 20 million Moxey dollars a year.
“Fifty years from now,” Davis said, “I hope most Americans don’t remember a time before the financial system included Moxey. And 100 years from now, they’ll just assume it’s always been here.”
Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade was conceived as a way for Sherilyn Hayward to help her 5-year-old autistic son feel connected to the community. The business has evolved from a front-yard lemonade stand to a product sold in local stores, restaurants, and even LSU Sports arenas. Hayward signed up her son Leroy to participate in a Children’s Hospital fundraiser in 2012—Raising Cane’s Lemonade Day—and was amazed at how much he enjoyed it. “The expression on his face as he gave out the lemonade … it was incredible,” she said. “And afterward, they let him give the money directly to the nurses in the hospital and his face just lit up!” Hayward saw right away that this was an opportunity not just for autistic children, but a message to parents that kids with disabilities can succeed at entrepreneurship … that their special needs do not have to be limitations. Over the years, Leroy has earned several honors and awards for his lemonade business, including Entrepreneur of the Year at age 8 from the LSU Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute. Today, aside from a variety of retail locations, Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade operates five kiosks inside LSU’s Tiger Stadium, Alex Box Stadium, and the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Hayward hopes to expand the business beyond Baton Rouge, and is planning to introduce a sugar-free option by the beginning of 2025.
LEROY’S LIPSMACK’N LEMONADE FRESHLY SQUEEZED LEMONADE
In 2011, Kenny Nguyen jetted from New York City to a same-day accounting lab at LSU. A refrain coursed through his brain — What was I thinking? — after his 3-month-old Future Genius Solutions team lost a Global Student Entrepreneur Awards competition. He and his four part-time employees accidentally emptied what remained of the company checking account for a Big Apple pizza pity party. Or was it a “pizza-palooza” manifesto for the future?
“That evening, the value of being together became real to me, and it’s still felt today,” said Nguyen, now CEO of ThreeSixtyEight. “Letting your values shine through — on your most challenging days — makes what you preach real.”
Fast-forward 13 years: ThreeSixtyEight, aka TSE, operates from a warehouse hub in Mid City Baton Rouge. The 28-member TSE team creates cutting-edge content for diverse clientele, including multibilliondollar enterprises (Alfa Insurance, Gerdau North America, Compass Datacenters), entertainment brands (Tomb Raider) and biomedical research (Pennington), while steadfastly supporting the Baton Rouge area that built the ThreeSixtyEight brand.
TSE was hired by BRAC and Visit Baton Rouge to develop a national talent
THREESIXTYEIGHT STRATEGIC, CREATIVE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY
attraction marketing campaign to recruit and retain more young professionals while building pride in the region. The campaign recently launched as Better in BTR.
Nguyen has made it his personal mission to make Baton Rouge the creative capital of the South. Perhaps his biggest contribution is creating Assembly Required, a TSEaffiliated nonprofit that pushes Baton Rouge’s boundaries toward that goal via high-energy events.
Building a leadership team, investing in talent, and working with clients who reinforce TSE values matter greatly to Nguyen, whose father encouraged him to embrace life as an entrepreneur. His wife Laura reboots him daily.
“I’m so grateful for her, to have the right partner on this journey,” Nguyen said. “I’m super lucky, man.”
In 1996, Vanessa Graham embraced the financial world with a freshly minted LSU accounting degree. Beginning at KPMG, she advised the Big Four accounting firm’s global clientele, managed projects, and even trained KPMG employees. With new skills, she nurtured dreams of starting her own business someday.
But first, APPRO came calling. As controller for the Baton Rouge-based software company, Graham helped position APPRO for a successful 2005 sale to creditrating heavyweight Equifax. Her seven years in credit technology taught her to enhance organizations via data analytics, financial reporting, and software systems — skills that today make her one of Louisiana’s most sought-after consultants.
“Those days helped me understand how the financial office can effectively work with operations to achieve success — lessons that have served me well throughout my career,” Graham said.
After APPRO’s acquisition, Graham began serving other firms as a contract and in-house CFO. The one constant: Financial professionals kept knocking on her door for advice. That demand crystallized the need for V. Graham, LLC.
In 2012, she founded V. Graham in Baton Rouge and later expanded to Lafayette. For a variety of clients, V. Graham fills the chief financial officer role and offers data-driven strategies, project management, and technology integration.
“The CFO role is so critical to the overall success of the organization, and absolutely should be part of the strategy side of the business,” Graham said. “We work closely with the client to make sure the numbers tell a story, and that we understand how shifts in the business — or potential major projects for the business — will impact its bottom line.”
In essence, Graham and her team of 15 professionals create a blueprint for greater financial success. Looking ahead, she hopes their work will inspire a new generation of financial leaders.
“In 20 years, my leadership will certainly be replaced,” she said. “But I hope to leave behind a legacy of service that has benefited our community and fulfilled the team that delivers it.”
LLC
DIRECTED ANALYTICS CONSULTING AND DEVELOPING TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS TO HELP ORGANIZATIONS REACH THEIR GOALS
In his waking hours, Jody Mitchell brainstorms one of the 21st century’s biggest opportunities: neurodiversity. Specifically, the Directed Analytics CEO wants his firm to unleash the workforce potential of people with dyslexia, ADHD, dyspraxia, autism, Tourette’s syndrome and other neurodivergent paths. Collectively, they constitute 20 percent of the world’s population and are chronically underemployed.
“Our company is focused on driving toward impact — in this case, improved competitive employment outcomes,” Mitchell said. His firm’s proprietary 4SightGPS framework applies engineering methods to solve nonengineering problems. Working like a GPS directing a driver to a destination, the 4SightGPS platform optimizes training for participants, provides subject-matter experts to boost progress, and ensures that participants stay on track to their career goal.
Mitchell and Derrick Wesley, the firm’s director of education programs, are leveraging 4SightGPS to expand employment opportunity for diverse populations. For a large workers’ compensation insurance firm, they’re developing skills for neurodivergent university students to become interns at the company. Others are following: Gartner Inc. predicts 25% of Fortune 500 companies will seek neurodivergent talent by 2027 to improve business performance.
With support from a National Science Foundation grant, Directed Analytics has entered a third phase of automating employment-skills development via 4SightGPS. Mitchell and co-founder Brenton Moss launched Directed Analytics a decade ago after gaining engineering degrees at Louisiana Tech and pursuing corporate careers.
At Lockheed Martin, Mitchell’s entrepreneurial spark ignited while interacting with management and realizing that not everyone approached problem-solving from an engineering perspective.
There are even bigger problems Directed Analytics wants to solve with its customizable platform. Cancer is in the crosshairs of the company, which operates in the Nexus Louisiana business incubator.
“My magnum opus will be developing the technology to accelerate the identification of root causes of complex biological issues,” Mitchell said. “And then to accelerate a cure.”
ANNA BAUMGARTNER FOUNDER, SOUTENIR
In French, soutenir means “to support,” and Anna Baumgartner found it a fitting title for her company which aims to help dancers of all body types feel confident while performing. She based her idea—a leotard with a built-in bra—on her own personal experience as a dancer, and hopes her product will be a solution and path toward equality in the ballet world for dancers with “unideal” body types.
As a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, she has received funding and support from industry leaders, and is currently at work on her first prototype.
A native of Luling, Louisiana, Kellen Francis is the Founder & CEO of Codegig, a tech company that specializes in consulting and business services to train clientele in a rapidly developing world. Believing that computer skills have become life skills, Francis’s company offers computer training and tech solutions by bridging the gap between emerging tech and the skills of clients, offering comprehensive, affordable training in cybersecurity, analytics, Microsoft programs, and more. Francis’ goal is to provide custom data analysis solutions to help companies optimize workflow, giving them the time they need to focus on business decisions.
After her son was diagnosed with language difficulties at a young age, speech-language pathologist Leah Singh noticed that he had trouble maintaining interest in his speech-therapy curriculum, so she set out to create her own resources. By “gamifying” the curriculum and implementing more graphic design elements — think Duolingo — she noticed her son not only paid more attention, but improved his speech as well. Wanting to help other parents, Singh founded LS Digital Tech, a company that makes resources for speech-language pathologists, teachers, and parents who want to tackle children’s communication challenges. She is currently at work on an app, which will be called “Speechibi,” and is set to begin beta testing soon.
Brandon Harris and Emil Fonseca are the founders of Bloom, a new digital platform built to connect performers to venues. Drawing on their experiences as performers, Harris and Fonseca hope to streamline the booking process and relieve some of the frustration that comes with the logistics of planning an event. “We hope to be the Airbnb of live entertainment,” Harris says. Founded in 2020, the company finally launched its app in February of this year, and hopes to revolutionize the live entertainment industry by creating a more cohesive ecosystem for audiences and artists alike.
BRAC’S DRIVE MINORITY BUSINESS ACCELERATOR POWERED BY EXXONMOBIL
Provides minority business owners with knowledge, resources, and networks necessary for success.
225.381.7125 | brac.org/drive
BRAC SMALL BUSINESS SERVICES
Dedicated staff help small businesses get connected to resources, information and networks to grow. 225.381.7125 | brac.org
BRIDGE (BATON ROUGE INITIATIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT, GROWTH & ENTREPRENEURSHIP)
Technical support and a mentorship program with local mentors and executives-in-residence.
225.578.7555 | louisianasbdc.org
BATON ROUGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK (BREW)
BREW brings together founders, creatives, innovators, investors, and business experts for a week of celebration, education, and connection. 225.218.0001 | celebratebrew.com
BATON ROUGE PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM (BRPOP)
A vehicle for public entities and private businesses to bring intentionality and focus that enhances diversity and inclusive practices to their procurement of goods and services from area vendors. 225.663.2198 | metromorphosis.net
FAST (FEDERAL AND STATE TECHNOLOGY) PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
Boosts the number of federal seed funding awards to women, socially/economically disadvantaged individuals and small businesses in rural states. Provides grants to help with the cost of applications for small business innovative research and technology transfer research awards.
225.578.7555 | lsu.edu/innovation/services/ledsibr/FAST_page.php
LAUNCHBR
Supports local companies, woman-owned, veteranowned and minority-owned businesses through coaching and training that is free or low-cost. 225.663.2198 | launchbr.com
LED CEO ROUNDTABLE (INVITATION ONLY)
Key decision makers from small businesses meet to explore business and personal issues with experienced facilitators. opportunitylouisiana.com/CEO-Roundtables
LSBDC TRAINING CLASSES
No-cost confidential business consulting and affordable workshops for existing business owners and entrepreneurs. 225.771.2891 | 225.578.4842 | louisianasbdc.org
LSU AGCENTER FOODII
Helps budding entrepreneurs establish and develop emerging food ventures, including bringing companies to market. 225.578.5207 | nfs.lsu.edu
LSU BOOTCAMP FOR ENTREPRENEURS
Intense, hands-on exposure to the fundamentals of launching and growing a successful venture. Taught by faculty, subject matter experts and local entrepreneurs.
lsu.edu/business/sdeis/bootcamp-entrepreneurs
LSU I-CORPS PROGRAM
Supports LSU faculty, staff, and students to commercialize their technologies and ideas through critical market and commercialization evaluations. lsu.edu/innovation/services/icorps/index.php
LSU PROGRAM FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF VETERINARY EDUCATION EQUIVALENCE (PAVE)
The pathway for veterinarians who are graduates of international, non-accredited veterinary programs, to practice in the U.S. and Canada. lsu.edu/vetmed/pave
LSU STUDENT VENTURE CHALLENGE
A system-wide business plan competition open to all on-campus LSU students and alumni (graduated within the last year) who are operating businesses or launching new ventures. 225.578.0313 | lsu.edu/business/sdeis/venturechallenge.php
NEXUSLA’S BIZTECH CHALLENGE™
Offered by NexusLA, this is a STEM-based business competition for HBCU students to validate and build their business idea, and win up to $10,000. 225.218.0001 | biztechchallenge.com
NEXUSLA’S DEMO DAY (PUBLIC EVENT)
Graduates of NexusLA’s Ignition program show off what they’ve learned and pitch to win a $10,000 investment prize funded by Innovation Catalyst. nexusla.org/events/ignition
NEXUSLA’S HIGH STAKES PITCH COMPETITION Promising startups can pitch to win a $100,000 prize to propel their businesses to the next level. Funded by Innovation Catalyst & Red Stick Angels. nexusla.org
NEXUSLA’S IGNITION 1.0 & 2.0
Guides entrepreneurs through the customer discovery and commercialization process. 222.218.0001 | nexusla.org/ignition
NEXUSLA’S PITCH BR
Quarterly pitch competition that helps emerging companies get feedback before engaging with the investment community. nexusla.org/pitchbr
NEXUSLA’S TECH PARK ACADEMY
Workshop series that helps entrepreneurs tackle business issues such as understanding customers, building strong teams, presenting effectively, etc. 222.218.0001 | nexusla.org
NEXUSLA’S VENTURE CAPITAL APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM (VCAP)
Apprenticeship program offered by NexusLA and LSU that gives finance students practical experience by pairing them with participating companies. 225.218.0001 | nexusla.org
ONESOURCE
Coordinated by NexusLA, helps aspiring startups and established businesses in the Capital Region find the resources to start, scale or accelerate. 833.964.1492 | onesourcela.com
STARTUP GRIND
Provides startups with the education and opportunities they need to build, grow and scale their companies. Local events can be found online. startupgrind.com
TECHSTARS STARTUP WEEKEND
Three-day program where aspiring entrepreneurs experience startup life. techstars.com
TEC NEXT
Technology & Energy Conference hosted by industry technology leaders from manufacturing companies. 225.328.8826 | tec-next.org
AMERICA’S SEED FUND
Federal grants help entrepreneurs establish the technical merit and feasibility of their inventions through the Small Business Innovative Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs.
225.578.7555 | lsu.edu/innovation/services
BR HEALTH DISTRICT
A unified medical community within the bounds of a shared Health District, that enables health care providers to combine their dierse strengths and compete with medical centers nationwide.
225.763.2946 | brhealthdistrict.com
BR NORTH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT
A political subdivision of the state created for the purpose of developing the area within the district in order to provide for substantial economic activity and employment opportunities.
225.921.3554 | brnedd.com
BR BLACK METROPOLITAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Empowering black entrepreneurship by inspiring, developing, educating, promoting and cultivating economic success in the Greater Baton Rouge Area.
225.302.4092 | brmbcc.org
B1BANK FOUNDATION
Supports education initiatives through scholarships and funding. Recent examples are the Louisiana Public Charter School Association Annual Conference and Young Entrepreneurs Academy. 225.248.7600 | b1-foundation.org
BUILD BATON ROUGE
Brings people and resources together to promote equitable investment, innovative development, and thriving communities across all of Baton Rouge.
225.387.5606 | buildbatonrouge.org
EMPLOYBR
Contributes to economic growth by ensuring the workforce system is job-driven, matching employers with skilled individuals. It provides employment and training services for adults, dislocated workers, and youth.
225.355.0980 | brla.gov/EmployBR
EBRP LIBRARY
Provides ample free resources and programs for small business owners.
225.231.3750 | ebrpl.com
GBR INDUSTRY ALLIANCE (GBRIA)
Nonprofit, 501(c)(6) association with members and partner organizations from over 100 industrial plant facilities and over 50 industrial contractors and suppliers in the River Parishes.
225.769.0596 | gbria.org
INNOVATION CATALYST
A nonprofit venture development organization formed by community leaders to strengthen and broaden Louisiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and drive new high-tech company formation through education, connections and capital.
225.215.2466 | innovationcatalyst.us
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER BATON ROUGE
Gives young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their futures, and make smart choices in a global economy.
225.287.9439 | batonrouge.ja.org
LOUISIANA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (LED)
Cultivates jobs and economic opportunity for the people of Louisiana, helping businesses find the resources they need to make relocation and expansion a successful, profitable endeavor.
225.342.3000 | opportunitylouisiana.com
LED SMALL AND EMERGING BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (SEBD)
Provides developmental assistance, including entrepreneurial training, marketing, computer skills, accounting, business planning, and legal and industry-specific assistance.
225.342.3000 | opportunitylouisiana.com/smallbusiness
LOUISIANA FUND
An early-stage venture capital fund focusing primarily on Louisiana-based life science companies. Louisiana Fund’s portfolio includes pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, agritechnology, information technology and other high technology firms.
225.763.2811 | louisianafund.com
LOUISIANA PROCUREMENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER (PTAC)
Generates employment and improves the general economy of Louisiana by assisting business firms in successfully obtaining and performing under federal, state and local government contracts. 337.482.6422 | ptac.louisiana.edu
LOUISIANA WORKFORCE COMMISSION (LWC)
One of the country’s best workforce agencies, supporting Louisiana’s employers, job seekers and workforce partners to make Louisiana the best place in the country to get a job or grow a business.
225.342.3111 | laworks.net
MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP OF LA. (MEPOL)
Assists Louisiana manufacturers in finding profitable new markets, navigating advanced technology solutions and recruiting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce.
800.433.6965 | mepol.org
METROMORPHOSIS
Works with nonprofit organizations and individuals to support the development of equitable processes, and equip community members with the tools and resources they need to participate in them.
225.663.2198 | metromorphosis.net
MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (MBDA)
An innovative, entrepreneurial-focused organization, committed to minority business enterprise and wealth creation.
225.771.4359 | louisianambdacenter.com
RED STICK ANGELS
A wholly owned subsidiary of Innovation Catalyst Inc., whose mission is to accelerate the growth of early-stage innovative businesses into ventureready companies. Investors are accredited investors, or “angels,” in the Greater Baton Rouge area. redstickangels.org
SCORE
Free business advice, training, templates and tools to those starting a new small business or to help existing businesses in improve their profitability.
504.589.2356 | batonrougearea.score.org
SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER (SBDC)
Delivers professional, high-quality, individualized business advice and technical assistance to existing small businesses and pre-venture entrepreneurs. 866.782.4159 | louisianasbdc.org
TIGER VENTURES
Equity-free student-run accelerator providing LSU entrepreneurs community, resources, and guidance.
info@tigerventures.org | tigerventures.org
TRUFUND
Fosters economic development in underserved communities and among disadvantaged populations.
504.293.5550 | trufund.org
YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS ACADEMY (YEA)
Teaches students in grades 6-12 to generate business ideas, conduct market research, write business plans, pitch to a panel of investors, and launch their very own companies.
225.325.3558 | yeausa.org
College and university programs and resources for entrepreneurs
A leading research-extensive university, challenging undergraduate and graduate students to achieve the highest levels of intellectual and personal development.
225.578.3202 | lsu.edu
LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business Innovative degree programs that go beyond the classroom to provide fresh learning opportunities, ground-breaking research, intellectual capital, and partnerships that support lifelong learning and economic growth for Louisiana’s business community.
225.578.3211 | lsu.edu/business
LSU Innovation Park Offers build-to-suit lab and office space at below-market rates. Leases start at $500/month. Also virtual offices, heavily discounteed shipping services, a student incubator, free business consulting services, and 24/7 access for $50/month.
225.578.7555 | lsu.edu/innovation
LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization Works with LSU researchers to facilitate the evaluation, protection, and licensing of LSU intellectual property.
225.578.2599 | lsu.edu/innovation/itc
LSU Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute (SEI) Fosters entrepreneurial practices through co-curricular activities and community outreach.
225.578.3211 | lsu.edu/business/sdeis
With five campuses in Louisiana, it is the only Historically Black College and University system in the nation.
225.771.4500 | subr.edu
Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center Offers multidisciplinary programs with collaboration among research scientists and cooperative extension personnel from Southern University, the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, and other entities.
225.771.2242 | lsuagcenter.com
EDA University Center for Economic Development
Accelerates regional business expansion by linking businesses with the resources, market information, and financing to enable them to effectively introduce new products, win new contracts, improve efficiency, and grow successfully.
225.771.5640 | subruniversitycenter.org
Baton Rouge Community College
225.216.8000 | mybrcc.edu
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University (FranU)
225.526.1700 | franu.edu
River Parishes Community College
225.743.8500 | rpcc.edu
An atmosphere of clarity and collaboration has emerged in the Greater Baton Rouge area, thanks to organizations dedicated to helping entrepreneurs propel their ideas to the next level.
The Louisiana State Legislature created Nexus Louisiana to promote the development of high-tech industry and research in Louisiana. In the past four years, it has rebranded from the Research Park Corporation to Nexus Louisiana to better reflect its mission of offering a hub—or nexus—to local tech founders. Nexus Louisiana’s home base is the Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Technology Park facility, which opened in 2001.
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber is an aggressively ambitious regional economic development organization with a bias for action. BRAC seeks to push the nine-parish Capital Region beyond the status quo, unleash its potential, and support a vibrant business community. Understanding that small businesses are the heartbeat of the Baton Rouge Area economy, BRAC’s small business services team maintains partnerships with the region’s entrepreneurial resources to ensure that every aspiring business owner has the tools necessary for success.
A number of LSU departments are now aligned under a new organizational structure that provides entrepreneurs and companies with the right environment and tools to help launch and grow their businesses and ideas. These include LSU Innovation Park, Louisiana Technology Transfer Office, Small Business Development Center, and the Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization—all providing advice, solutions and access to capital and other resources under one umbrella.