Local entrepreneur turns love of ice cream into new business
Denise Williams is a graduate of the third cohort of the MORTAR at Bounce program. MORTAR is a 15-week business accelerator. At the end of the 15 weeks, participants graduate and pitch for $3,000. Denise graduated in April and was the winner of the Bounce Life’s a Pitch competition on April 20. (https://bouncehub.org/2021/04/21/plant-based-ice-cream-entrepreneur-wins-mortar-pitch-competition/) Anyone […]
Local music store continues to keep the beat
When Victor and Norma Heard began dating in the 1980s, a typical date night for them was to visit one of their favorite local record stores. Now nearly 30 years since they opened their own store, 2Live Music, in September 1991, they’ve evolved with the times to stay relevant and attract a new generation of […]
Lessons learned from Bounce’s female tech entrepreneurs
Did you know that many of Bounce’s tech founders are women? In fact, we are seeing more women in tech fields doing their own thing – here at Bounce and around the world – than ever before. To that, we recently talked to several of them to discuss how they’ve leveraged their strengths, overcame challenges […]
Plant-based ice cream entrepreneur wins MORTAR pitch competition
Denise Williams, owner and founder of Diva De La Creme plant-based ice cream company, was the big winner at the MORTAR at Bounce Life’s a Pitch event on April 20. Our finalists presented their pitches to five judges in pursuit of a $3,000 business grant. The pitch competition and graduation ceremony was held in person […]
Best friends turn passion into booming clothing line
A familiar piece of advice for entrepreneurs is to never go into business with friends, but Shawn Coss and Mike Nemitz have proven that old adage wrong. Their company, Any Means Necessary, is a Bounce incubator company that sells t-shirts and other merchandise emblazoned with Coss’ artwork. Over the last eight years, they’ve incrementally grown […]
Medical device startup pays it forward by providing face shields to frontline staff
Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kevin Nelson was busy building his customer base for an innovative wound care dressing he developed for very sensitive and fragile skin. His company, NelDerm, a Bounce incubator company, manufactures these dressings primarily for hospitals and long-term care facilities. While in a meeting with a chain of nursing homes […]
History of Black entrepreneurship inspires GROW program
For Black people living in the Mississippi Delta in the late 1950s, the prospects of work were limited, so many worked long, hot days in the cotton fields. One man, Cleve Mormon, had another idea – selling ice to those toiling under the hot sun. In solving this simple problem, Mormon became an unlikely – […]
Entrepreneur turns passion into growing artisanal food company
Tanya Green, who founded Julia Belles’ Seasonings in 2015, admits that she didn’t follow the usual path of starting a new business. “I had products and a customer base before I had business and marketing plans or a logo and product packaging,” she said. Green, who works full-time as a new product development researcher, has […]
MORTAR at Bounce Pitch Night and Graduation Concludes Second Cohort
On Nov. 17, Bounce celebrated the second MORTAR at Bounce graduation. Ten finalists also participated the “Life’s A Pitch” competition, where each had a chance to showcase what they learned over the 15-week program and walk away with a $3,000 business grant. We’d like to congratulate all of the graduates, and our winner of the […]
Startup Showcase: S4 Mobile Laboratories
Startup Showcase 2020: S4 Mobile Laboratories S4 Mobile Laboratories is a Bounce tenant and MAGNET Iterator client. S4 is truly one of Bounce’s more unique companies. They have developed mobile soil laboratories for use by non-scientists to map what’s underground in real time. Basically, their technology aids in projects such as finding the bodies of […]