Founders First Accelerator and Funding Programs Lead Seven Diverse-Led Businesses to Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies

Founders First is excited to announce that seven of its member companies have been named to this year’s Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies. All seven went through Founders First FastPath business expansion accelerator program, exclusively for diverse founder-led companies.

Three of the companies, Quality Interactions, Inc.; OnShore Technology Group; and Topflight, received growth-capital investment from Founders First Capital Partners, which provides non-dilutive, revenue-based financing to businesses led by BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and military veterans as well as those located in low-to-moderate income geographic areas and companies dedicated to inclusive hiring practices. Founders First Capital Partners provides financing through its Change Catalyst Fund, an impact fund that delivers flexible growth-capital loans to support expansion and job creation in small businesses led by diverse founders.

“Quality Interactions has greatly benefitted from Founder First’s twin value of growth capital and consultative support that helped us to realize this amazing achievement,” said Michele Courton Brown, executive chairperson, Quality Interactions, Inc.

Companies on this year’s Inc. 5000 list are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2019 to 2021. The Founders First member companies, all led by BIPOC founders and CEOs including three women, averaged 450% revenue growth over the three years and contributed significantly to expanding diverse representation on Inc.’s annual list.

“One of the things I found with Founders First was not only the support that I got from the education and the cohort, but Founders First is really your family. And like any family, they’re looking out for you all the time, whether you realize it or not,” said Liz D’Aloia, COO. KoderLabs. “For example, I’ve had opportunities to get into the Inc. 5000 this year with the support of Founders First. I never would have done that on my own. It just wasn’t even on my radar.

Founders First’s founder Kim Folsom expects the trend to continue, as the number of Founders First companies making this year’s list more than doubled from last year.

“The increasing number of Founders First member companies ranked on the Inc. 5000 list each year demonstrates that providing historically underrepresented founders performance-based access to growth capital, leadership development, expert growth coaching, recurring revenue-focused curriculum, and business networks is a transformative model with significant impact,” says Folsom. “We congratulate all of our member companies recognized by Inc. this year, and we thank the investors who partner with Founders First to create a more just and inclusive economy that benefits us all.”

Founders First member companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list:

About Founders First Capital Partners

Founders First Capital Partners is building a comprehensive ecosystem through its proprietary platform to empower underrepresented founders to become leading, premium-wage job creators within their communities. The firm provides revenue-based funding and business acceleration support to service-based small businesses located outside of major capital markets such as Silicon Valley and New York City. Founders First Capital Partners focus on supporting businesses led by women, people of color, and military veterans, LBGTQIA+ inclusive teams, and businesses located in low-to-moderate income areas as well as companies dedicated to inclusive hiring practices. Its proprietary business accelerator programs, learning platform, and growth methodologies transition these businesses into $5M to $50M recurring revenue, tech-enabled companies while providing high-yield investments for fund limited partners (LPs) that perform like bonds but generate returns on par with equity investments. Each year, Founders First Capital Partners works with hundreds of entrepreneurs and offers 3 cohort programs through its Founders Business Growth Bootcamp and 4 cohorts through its FastPath Funding Growth Experience program. foundersfirstcapitalpartners.com

About Founders First CDC

Founders First CDC is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) that was founded in 2015 and has received significant support from the regional community reinvestment banks to empower diverse founder-led, revenue-generating small businesses through three primary programs: Challenge, Bootcamp, and FastPath. By building recurring revenues, tech-enablement, and essential solution focus, Founders First serves as a catalyst for positive change to entrepreneurs of color and female founders to become leading employers in their communities. foundersfirstcdc.org

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220913005148/en/