Business Bootcamp Alumni
RISE Collaborative hosts the RISE Business Bootcamp annually, in partnership with the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC), GO Virginia, and the SOVA Innovation Hub.
Entrepreneurs Served
Cohorts Completed
RISE Collaborative is a regional initiative dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship and business growth in GO Virginia Region 3. The RISE Business Bootcamp is an annual, cohort-based program that provides aspiring entrepreneurs and existing business owners with access to a community of peers and a facilitator-led curriculum designed to equip them with the essential skills, knowledge, and tools needed to thrive in today’s competitive business landscape.
Throughout the multi-week program, participants engage in interactive workshops, receive personalized coaching, and have the opportunity to network with industry experts and fellow entrepreneurs. This program is ideal for people who are new business owners (started in the last 1-3 years), and wanting to get a clear path to accessing capital for growth and scaling. The program is also open to people who are just getting started or have not opened their business yet who are wanting to create a solid business plan before diving in with forming the business.
Virtual Cohort 4 – Winter 2024 Business Bootcamp
The Winter 2024 Business Bootcamp virtual cohort included thirty (30) entrepreneurs representing twenty-eight (28) businesses, including eighteen (18) existing businesses and ten (10) startup businesses, located across fourteen (14) of the fifteen (15) GO Virginia Region 3 localities. This cohort met virtually from January 9, 2024 through March 5, 2024.
Virtual Cohort 3 – Winter 2023 RISE Business Bootcamp
The Winter 2023 RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was facilitated by the Longwood SBDC in partnership with the SOVA Innovation Hub. This virtual cohort included thirty-four (34) entrepreneurs, including existing businsesses and startup businesses, from across GO Virginia Region 3. This cohort met virtually from January 2023 through March 2023.
Pictured here are the members of the Winter 2023 RISE Business Bootcamp.
Virtual Cohort 2 – Spring 2022 RISE Business Bootcamp
The Spring 2022 RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was facilitated by the Longwood SBDC in partnership with the SOVA Innovation Hub. This virtual cohort served six (6) entrepreneurs, including existing businesses and startup businesses, from across GO Virginia Region 3. This cohort met virtually in spring 2022.
Virtual Cohort 1 – Fall 2021 RISE Business Bootcamp
The Fall 2021 RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was facilitated by the Longwood SBDC in partnership with the SOVA Innovation Hub. This virtual cohort served fifteen (15) entrepreneurs, including existing businesses and startup businesses, from across GO Virginia Region 3. This cohort met virtually during fall 2021.
Local Cohort 1 – Spring 2021 – Downtown Blackstone Community Business Launch
The original RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was part of 2021 Community Business Launch hosted by Downtown Blackstone, Inc. in partnership with the Longwood SBDC. This was a local, in-person cohort that served nine (9) entrepreneurs, including existing and startup businesses, who wanted to locate in Downtown Blackstone, which is the Virginia Main Street district of the Town of Blackstone in Nottoway County, Virginia. The Longwood SBDC team of Brandon Hennessey and Katherine Anne Beale integrated the CO.STARTERS Core curriculum made available by RISE Collaborative. Following the business bootcamp, in July 2021, eight (8) of the participants pitched in the Community Business Launch pitch competition. Downtown Blackstone Inc. distributed a prize pool of $46,000 to five (5) businesses. Read more on the Virginia Main Street website >
Pictured here are Longwood SBDC representatives Brandon Hennessey (second row, left) and Katherine Anne Beale (second right, right) along with the eight (8) entrepreneurs who pitched at the Downtown Blackstone Community Business Launch in July 2021.
Program Sponsors
The RISE Business Bootcamp is made possible thanks to GO Virginia, Longwood Small Business Development Center (LSBDC), and the SOVA Innovation Hub, as well as our guest speakers, community partners, and alumni who help make this program successful each year.
