The Crimson set of programs are designed to help startups receive accelerator funding and coaching assistance and then obtain the investment needed to fill a critical gap that exists for our startups. We are helping them get from acceleration to company growth.
The Crimson Venture Fund originally raised $700,000 via a crowdsourced campaign, which to date is UA’s largest crowdsourced raise. The money in the Fund is used to support the Crimson Accelerator. If you are interested in supporting the Crimson Venture Fund, you can donate a tax-deductible donation dedicated to this program.
In the Crimson Accelerator program, the AEI team makes investments in a select group of companies that go through the custom-designed acceleration experience for each admitted startup. We help them take their companies to the next level through individualized coaching from UA alumni and friends of UA experts. If you are interested and getting involved in donating time and coaching, please get in touch with Dr. Welbourne via email at tmwelbourne@ua.edu.
The accelerator program also provides startups with a cash infusion in exchange for equity via a SAFE agreement, that at some point in time, may return funds to the UA Crimson Venture Fund. The Fund is a restricted gift account, so any wins that come from the investments go into a special fund designated to help future entrepreneurs; the money is restricted for this purpose.
City Detect is a company that uses vision AI to help local governments monitor the health of buildings and neighborhoods.
City Detect was one of the first companies to participate in the Crimson Accelerator program through a pilot accelerator program and just completed a $13.5 million dollar round of series A funding.
The company CEO, Gavin Baum Blake, is a UA Law School Graduate and recently won the inaugural alumni young entrepreneur of the year award.
The new Crimson Angel Network is an opportunity for anyone to get involved in boosting or investing in our startups. Our angel network is unique in that it does not require any large cash outlays but supports investments in any amount. The business we are partnering with on the Network involves both high net worth investors as well as investors who want to make smaller investments. This is an exciting opportunity for the entire UA community; as we support our companies and help them grow, we also are providing opportunities to invest and grow with them. Thus, the process is designed to help grow our UA and “friends” of UA entrepreneurial companies (student, faculty, staff and alumni startups all are qualified to participate; we also can involve friends of UA, such as people who have served as coaches or who volunteer time and are actively involved in supporting UA).
Dr. Theresa M. Welbourne is leading this initiative, and it is part of the overall work being done at the Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute and the Management Department in the Culverhouse College of Business. Theresa runs a large research project on growth companies, specifically looking at what happens in companies post significant milestone events such as initial public offerings (IPOs), new leadership, private equity, mergers, high growth cycles, and more. The research team consists of entrepreneurship faculty in the Management Department at The University of Alabama, along with researchers from other universities who partner on this work. The faculty also teach courses that focus on growth and innovation at the undergraduate, master’s, Ph.D., and executive levels.
