Details « Brandery

Details

How can you transform a company into a brand?

$20K Seed Funding and Support: Lay the foundation for your brand as you work with market research partners and some of the best agencies in Cincinnati. Your identity will be seeded in meaningful consumer insights and will far surpass a fancy logo.

Advice and Mentoring: Our Brand Marketing Mentors have strong brand-building backgrounds as well as an appreciation for what makes startups and small businesses unique. It’s their vision, which will help you imagine your startup as a true brand.

Building Your Network: The Brandery will help your company with introductions and connections to potential partners and customers, including some of the largest brands in the world. Additionally, The Brandery program culminates in a Demo Day that gives your company the chance to pitch the press, angel investors, brand marketers and leading venture capitalists.

Over $175K in Free Benefits: A partial list of benefits available to your company can be found here.

A great deal and a great co-founder.

In exchange for The Brandery program, advice, mentorship, connections, and demo day, The Brandery receives a 6% diluting warrant in your new company.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much funding do companies receive from The Brandery?

You will get $20,000 in seed funding. From the example of other programs, this is plenty of money to survive for three months and build a prototype, so you can get to the next level. Plus, the Brandery removes many other costs by providing your company with free office space, consumer research, brand identity, legal support, etc. Leading Cincinnati-based design firms offer free branding and visual identity guidance to each of The Brandery companies. There are also the invaluable connections and advice you will get with industry experts and investors at the Demo Day. All together you will be getting a value worth many times more than $20,000.

What kind of companies do you accept into The Brandery?

The Brandery is looking for companies with whom we can be actively involved. Ones that we can help make the biggest impact. This may mean a company where you only have an idea, or it could be one where you already have customers or angel investors. The most important thing for us is a company that can scale, is focused on consumers /consumer marketers and sees the value of treating your start-up as a brand. We feel we can add the most value to high-growth, technology based opportunities in Consumer Internet, Marketing SaaS, Consumer Services and Products, and Media and Entertainment. We are not the right place for a start-up in biotech, healthcare, IT services, restaurants, or consultancies. Likewise, if you feel that your company’s brand is something that will “just happen” and isn’t important, there are probably other programs better fitted for your business. Finally we are looking for companies with a total annual addressable market of at least $250 million.

Why Cincinnati? Isn’t Silicon Valley the only place for a start-up?

Cincinnati is one of the Top 5 Consumer Marketing regions in the world. It is home to 10 Fortune 500 Headquarters including Procter & Gamble, Kroger, and Macy’s. The region is also the home of leading marketing, branding, design and advertising service companies such as LPK, Possible Worldwide, dunnhumby and Nielsen. Nothing against Silicon Valley, but Cincinnati has one of the largest collections of Brand and Consumer Marketing talent in the world. If you start-up is consumer focused or looking to connect with consumer marketers, we can’t think of a better place to be based.

Who are the mentors?

You can see our list of mentors here.

How do you compare to other startup programs?

The Brandery is a Global Accelerator Network Member. Other programs have been incredibly helpful as we formed The Brandery. In fact, we consider those program to be close partners and friends. We don’t think different startup programs as better worse than each other…just different. For instance, we place a much greater emphasis on research, consumer marketing and brand building than other programs.

Do I have to be in Cincinnati for the entire 14 week program?

Yes. We feel that to get the full benefit out of The Brandery, you need to be in Cincinnati for the full 14 week period. Now this does not mean you need to be only running your start-up during this time. We are willing to work with companies whose founders are students or working another full-time job. However, running a start-up is a major time commitment and you need to show that you are willing and able to participate fully in The Brandery.

Do I have to stay in Cincinnati when the program ends after 4 months?

One of our goals is to grow the entrepreneurial community of Greater Cincinnati. We think that for the same reasons you choose The Brandery in the first place, you will want to maintain a presence here in Cincinnati afterwards.

What else does The Brandery provide?

During the program, we’ll provide you with seed funding, an amazing group of mentors, collaborative office space, legal assistance, and marketing support. Essentially we’ll help you get everything covered without eating into your valuable resources. We want you to focus on building a great brand and product, while we will worry about all the little stuff.

The Brandery offers great office space in a newly renovated building in The Historic Over-The-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, OH. Take a look at our office and work space for our companies Work space at the Brandery

Can you guarantee my company will get funded after The Brandery program ends?

No. We cannot guarantee your company will receive funding on the Demo Day or after the program ends. No program can (or should) make a promise like that. But we do think The Brandery gives you a leg up on other companies. For our Investor Demo Day, we will be inviting angel investors and venture capitalists from across the country to listen to your pitch. We’ll help your craft your brand and pitch to be as effective as possible. And we’ll do everything in our power to help you get follow on funding. Based on other programs, you can expect that about 75% of companies will receive funding or become profitable after participating in The Brandery.

Where will we live while we’re in Cincinnati?

Right now, The Brandery doesn’t provide a place to live. So where you live is up to you. However, we made the promise to remove the “little things” from your worry list, so once you are accepted and if you are from out of town, someone on The Brandery team will help you find a place.

Do I need to send in a business plan?

Not at all. Just fill out the short online application.

Do I need to have prior start-up experience?

No, we are looking for passionate people with great ideas.

What will a typical day be like for a company in The Brandery?

The Brandery is about helping your build your start-up. That means every day you will be hard at work on your product and brand. However, we aren’t here to babysit you or give you schedule to follow. It’s your company after all. With that in mind, you can choose to work out of the office space we provide or anywhere else that you prefer. Every Thursday night we will have an informal educational session with our mentors that will cover a different topic. We’ll also have several other educational sessions and social events each week. Because of that, we do encourage you to spend as much time at The Brandery as possible. The collaboration with mentors and your fellow start-ups will prove invaluable as you build your start-up.

Is my company too early (or late) stage to apply to The Brandery?

There has not been an idea we’ve seen that has been too early. We are here to help you refine the problem, define your audience and build a great brand / product / business model. Along those lines, your company isn’t too late just because you’ve raised angel investment either. We think we can help companies throughout their formative stage, even if your company is up and running with customers already.

I’m concerned that if I apply, you won’t protect my intellectual property.

Should I be worried about this? As any other start-up program will tell you, none of us are in the business of stealing ideas. But at the same time, we see many new start-ups and they often have similar ideas. Because of this and other practical reasons, please don’t ask us to sign a NDA. If you’re not comfortable disclosing something about your business, you are under no obligation to do so. Please see our Confideniality and Non-Disclosure Policy listed under the “APPLY” tab.

What is the schedule for the Investor Demo Day?

Demo Day 2012 will showcase our companies to a collection of angel investors, venture capitalists, business executives and industry press. The tentative schedule for the day is as follows:


8:30 AM	Official Welcome
8:45 AM	Keynote (speaker TBD)
9:30 AM	Demonstrations from Finalists
11:30 AM	Panel Discussion with Leading Investors
12:30 PM	Lunch & Networking Opportunity
2:00 PM	Event Officially Concludes
6:00 PM	Cincinnati Networking Happy Hour

What if I’m not interested in The Brandery, but am looking for seed or angel funding?

The Brandery does not currently have a fund with which to invest outside of The Brandery Venture Accelerator program. However, we will perform diligence on a select number of opportunities and circulate the opportunity to our partners who are looking to make seed or angel investments. In the future we hope to manage a pool of capital to invest in companies seeking seed or angel funding.