The Tech Park Foundation is helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses in Atlanta’s tech scene. By partnering with Atlanta Tech Park, it helps many startups, especially those led by minority groups. Coaching, capital access, and special support programs from the Foundation foster innovation and make the tech world more inclusive.

The Mission of the Tech Park Foundation: Bridging the Gap

The Tech Park Foundation is a nonprofit focused on helping startups grow, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. It provides resources for early-stage businesses and partners with Atlanta Tech Park to offer tools and support. This partnership helps entrepreneurs start and grow their companies by finding capital and making business connections.

Atlanta Tech Park is a hub for tech startups, offering cutting-edge tools and a dynamic community. The Tech Park Foundation boosts this environment with coaching, financial support, and capital connections. This support gets new tech leaders started.

Coaching: Expert Guidance for Overcoming Challenges

Starting a business comes with many challenges, from shaping a business plan to securing funding and managing growth. For marginalized founders, these challenges are often greater due to limited access to capital and networks. The Tech Park Foundation’s coaching program helps entrepreneurs navigate these obstacles by connecting them with executive mentors. Each have deep experience in technology, business development, and other fields.

These mentors provide personalized guidance and practical solutions. They help entrepreneurs refine their business strategies, prepare for investor pitches, and manage early-stage growth. With this tailored support, startups can better position themselves to succeed in a competitive market.

Access to Capital: Bridging Financial Gaps

Early-stage startups often need capital. This is especially challenging for underrepresented founders who face barriers in getting traditional funding. The Tech Park Foundation helps by connecting entrepreneurs with investors, venture capital firms, and other funding sources.

The Foundation uses its network and adoption program to match startups with curated partners. They offer financial support and strategic advice. These connections assist founders in securing the funds needed for product development, marketing, and scaling their businesses. By providing these resources, the Tech Park Foundation helps ensure that underserved entrepreneurs have equal opportunities.

Incubator and Accelerator Programs: Fast-Tracking Success

The Tech Park Foundation also supports startups through incubator and accelerator programs. These accelerate growth and prepare underrepresented entrepreneurs for the next stage. These programs provide early-stage companies with mentorship, resources, and access to potential investors. Entrepreneurs can shape their ideas, create solid business models, and learn how to succeed in the tech industry.

Incubators and accelerators provide a structured space for startups. Here, they can work with others, learn from experts, and quickly improve their products. This collaborative ecosystem is crucial in helping early-stage startups reach key milestones and scale their businesses.

Adoption Program: Empowering Entrepreneurs with Support

The Tech Park Foundation offers coaching and incubator programs. It also has a unique adoption program that provides additional support to startups. Entrepreneurs, especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities. This program pairs selected startups with “adoptive” partners who offer financial help, industry connections, and resources.

The adoption program covers expense of being part of the Park Community, mentors and curated executives in residence to work directly with your team. This reduces financial pressure and lets entrepreneurs focus on growing their businesses. Adoptive partners also provide valuable insights and connections that can help startups thrive in the long run.

Building an Inclusive Tech Ecosystem

The Tech Park Foundation’s focus on helping disadvantaged entrepreneurs is creating a more inclusive tech ecosystem in Atlanta. By supporting minority founders, the Foundation helps bring diverse voices and ideas to the city’s innovation scene.

This inclusive approach not only helps individual startups succeed but also strengthens Atlanta’s broader tech community. When diverse entrepreneurs thrive, they attract more investment and inspire future innovators. This contributes to a more equitable and dynamic tech environment.

Looking Ahead

The Tech Park Foundation remains committed to empowering marginalized entrepreneurs from all backgrounds. It focuses on those who face barriers to accessing capital and business networks. The Foundation’s coaching, incubator, and adoption programs help early-stage companies. They also boost long-term growth in Atlanta’s tech scene.

The Tech Park Foundation offers a supportive and inclusive environment where innovation can flourish. It is exclusive to those looking to join the thriving community of Atlanta Tech Park. The Foundation is shaping the future of Atlanta’s tech scene and driving positive change in the industry. Access to mentors, funding, and strategic guidance highlight how the Foundation can help.

The Tech Park Foundation works to level the playing field. Its focus on coaching, capital access, and support for underrepresented founders shows a modern approach to entrepreneurship. Its efforts address the immediate needs of startups. It also contributes to the long-term success and diversity of Atlanta’s tech ecosystem.

PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. – Oct. 13, 2022 – Peachtree Corners – one of the United States’ first 5G smart cities powered by real-world connected infrastructure – has been honored by IEEE Smart Cities as a finalist with its Jury Award following the IEEE International Smart Cities Contest 2022. The organization brings together IEEE’s broad array of technical societies and organizations to advance the state of the art for smart city technologies and to set the global standard. IEEE formally presented this year’s winners at its flagship International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2) 2022 in Paphos, Cyprus on September 27.

“The City of Peachtree Corners being honored by IEEE with its Jury Award is a reinforcement of our international position as one of the most unique smart city environments in the world. With economic development having been the focus from the beginning, we’ve created a model for better collaboration between public leaders and the top technology developers around the globe to advance the smart city concept in the United States. Our ultimate objective is to improve society and the daily lives and safety of our citizens, and we are proud to be recognized for our smart city efforts while not losing sight of our responsibility toward our citizens.” – Peachtree Corners City Manager Brian Johnson

The IEEE considered many aspects of the project, “City Street of the Future: The Smart City Blueprint for the U.S. is at the Heart of Silicon Orchard,” before selecting it. Peachtree Corners was recognized for its unique approach to city government and the proactive integration of technology into its short and long-term planning. This in addition to the strategic vision, economic development factors, real-world problems solved, impact on various federal government agencies or regulators, the city’s alignment with United Nations Sustainability Goals, and benefits for citizens to the architecture of technologies deployed were all considered during the evaluation.

“We’re honored that IEEE Smart Cities, which includes members across global power, energy, communications, information technology, government and academia, reaffirmed our vision and recognized some of the world firsts. From the first cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) system deployed in a U.S. city, the first IoT Central Control Room that aggregates data from sensors across city-owned smart infrastructure, one of the first cities in the country to deploy 5G in 2019, to strides in sustainable mobility with a 5G-powered autonomous shuttle fleet and the first teleoperated e-scooters in America, we’ve helped innovation grow here. Companies from across the globe are attracted to our welcoming community, our tech-forward government structure and real-world conditions that can’t be replicated in a closed lab.” – Peachtree Corners Assistant City Manager/Chief Technology Officer Brandon Branham

As an incubator, the Curiosity Lab acts as a community for these companies and technology developers to network and collaborate on projects that may not have been possible before. Some of the most prominent innovators and partner institutions are actively engaged in the city including T-Mobile, Cisco, Bosch, Qualcomm, Delta Airlines, Georgia Institute of Technology and many more. Peachtree Corners is also a hotspot for international technology companies of all sizes to launch into the North American market, from Europe to Asia and the Middle East.

For more information on the award recognition, or to schedule an interview with government officials, please contact Peachtree@goDRIVEN360.com.

About IEEE Smart Cities

IEEE Smart Cities brings together IEEE’s broad array of technical societies and organizations to advance the state of the art for smart city technologies for the benefit of society and to set the global standard in this regard by serving as a neutral broker of information amongst industry, academic and government stakeholders. The mission of IEEE Smart Cities: to be recognized as the authoritative voice and leading source of credible technical information and educational content within the scope of smart cities, as well as facilitate and promote both the collaborative and individual work of its Member Societies regarding smart city technology. Its eight Partner Organizational Units include the Communications Society, Control Systems Society, Industry Applications Society, Power & Energy Society, Systems/Man/Cybernetics Society, Intelligent Transportation Systems Society, Council on Electric Automation Design and Council on RFID.

About the City of Peachtree Corners, Georgia
As the heart of what is being called #SiliconOrchard in the metro-Atlanta region, Peachtree Corners is a vibrant municipality that’s home to more than 45,000 residents, 45,000 jobs and an innovation hub that houses some of the world’s most disruptive technology companies. As the United States’ premier smart city powered by real-world connected infrastructure and 5G, Peachtree Corners serves as the model for how government and private industry can better collaborate to create a better future for society and business. From the world’s first deployment of tele-operated e-scooters to fully autonomous shuttles being utilized by actual residents, and from a solar roadway to the largest electric vehicle fast-charging hub in the region, Peachtree Corners is where the most future-forward Internet of Things (IoT) and sustainable technologies come to life for the benefit of its citizens, and the world. For more information, visit https://www.peachtreecornersga.gov.

About Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners
Curiosity Lab is a 5G-enabled intelligent mobility and smart city living laboratory located in the southeastern United States near Atlanta, Georgia. Designed as a proving ground for IoT, mobility and smart city emerging technologies, the centerpiece of the lab is a three-mile public autonomous vehicle roadway leveraging cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technologies. Additional infrastructure includes intelligent traffic cameras and traffic signals, smart streetlights, the country’s first “IoT Central Control Room” implemented in a city and a 25,000-square-foot innovation center. Owned and operated by the City of Peachtree Corners, Curiosity Lab is one of North America’s only real-world testing environments and is available for use free of charge. Additional information can be found at www.curiositylabptc.com.