(Pictured above left to right: Selina Garcia and Molly Carpenter during Bounce’s annual Startup Showcase)
It’s a new year, which means new beginnings, new starts and new goals. But before we get too far into 2022, we wanted to take a moment to highlight the accomplishments and significant events of 2021. It was a challenging year, but there was still much to celebrate! Let’s jump right in!
Entrepreneurial programming and clients served
Here at Bounce, our number one priority is serving entrepreneurs and helping build successful businesses. In 2021, we are proud to report that we served 186 clients through our six programs for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. Early numbers show that we made more than 100 connections for our clients and we spent almost 12,000 hours helping clients.
Read here for more specific stats regarding our technology programs and GROW programs.
Operations and building occupancy
Providing affordable, clean and safe spaces for startups to grow and thrive is not only a part of Bounce’s mission, but a primary revenue stream for the organization. We ended 2021 with 50 tenants and 81% of our rentable space occupied.
We welcomed the following tenants in 2021:
- Graffle Labs
- Xadite Perceptions
- eSens
- Modern Traditions
- Aquanex
- Lady Kate’s Stitchery
- Successful Staffing
- Shoo.in
Funding
In addition to earned income, Bounce has a number of funding sources in the form of grants and corporate support.
Major Grants (> $75k/year) in 2021:
We also raised additional funds for our GROW Next Level Business Incubator program. Total support raised in 2021 was almost $75,000 from the City of Akron, the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and the Huntington Akron Foundation. This funding allows us to revamp the program and bolster offered services, including hiring veteran entrepreneurs (entrepreneurs in residence) to work with participants. The money raised will be spent in 2022-2023, with an additional $30,000 coming this year to fully fund the program.
Major Corporate Support (> $75k/year) in 2021:
- Presenting Partners:
Bounce also benefited from numerous corporate sponsors and donors that contributed from $500 to $20,000 throughout the year. And our annual Giving Tuesday campaign raised more than $2,000 from individual donors. Thank you to all who give to Bounce!
Team updates and new hires
The following team members joined Bounce full-time in 2021:
- James Hilton, sr. director of entrepreneurial programming
- Mike Bauman, facilities director
- Theresa Attalla, digital and content marketing manager
- Bryce Collison, program coordinator
- Selina Garcia, program coordinator
- Cheryl Metcalf, community administrator
- Jeff Rockwood, entrepreneur in residence
In addition, Asha Zayn was promoted to program manager in October. Asha oversees intake for the GROW program and the Next Level Business Incubator.
The Generator
In spite of another year overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our first-floor Generator space stayed open, active and bustling! Not quite at pre-pandemic levels (yet!), our Generator staff managed to see an uptick in several key areas while outright smashing other goals set back in January.
- Total visitors: 10,801 (goal was 8,000)
- Total large events: 150 (non-conference room rentals)
- Total members: 106
- 9 office members
- 14 reserved desk members
- 1 corporate member
- 32 coworking memberships
- 50 tenant memberships
- Total day passes sold: 613 (more than any previous year!)
Of course, a big part of that was our new café partner Stray Dog, who took over the Bounce café in September. As an established local business, Stray Dog brought a following with them and have never looked back.
2022, here we come!
We have big plans for this year and you won’t want to miss a single thing. Stay up to date by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and/or LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter here. Cheers!