Marc Ecko's Venture Innovation Company Artists & Instigators Launches A&I Practicum

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Marc Ecko's venture innovation company, Artists & Instigators™ (www.artistsandinstigators.com ), is announcing its first product, A&I Practicum™, as part of the White House's launch of its "Startup America" campaign to celebrate, inspire and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. A next generation entrepreneurial engine, A&I Practicum will invest over $1 billion in 750 startup companies and create 20,000 student apprenticeships by 2016.

"In my own personal journey as an entrepreneur and education reformer, I have been inspired by some of America's greatest 'artists' & 'instigators' - Ben Franklin, Andy Warhol, Muhammad Ali, and our generation's artist and instigator, Steve Jobs," said Marc Ecko, CEO of Artists & Instigators.

Ecko continued, "Artists & Instigators is not just a company. It is a platform for big ideas to inspire and activate the world's Artists & Instigators. Our product, A&I Practicum, is a curriculum & job creation engine to activate a next generation entrepreneurial ecosystem. Today, we issue a $100 million launch challenge for universities, foundations, and corporations to activate with us."

Ecko is an entrepreneur, investor, fashion and media mogul, artist and education reformer. He launched Artists & Instigators with Wayne Kimmel and Tony Bifano, who are entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Artists & Instigators ("A&I") crafts companies to re-imagine a traditional industry. A&I utilizes talent, technology, brand, capital and social purpose as the core ingredients to assemble a game changing company. Over the past decade, A&I's leadership team has invested in startups that today support over 6,000 jobs.

A&I Practicum accelerates investments in high-growth startups and connects students with real world entrepreneurial experience and jobs. A&I Practicum launches with its first university partner, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Emulating the hands-on training model of a medical school residency program, the curriculum will be an accredited real world apprenticeship where students will engage in marketing, design, social media and research for A&I-funded startups. The apprenticeship model can uniquely scale based on A&I's proprietary "cloud driven" enterprise web application developed on the Force.com platform.

"I believe artists are natural entrepreneurs. They start with imagination and insight and a compulsion to make something where nothing was before," said Sean T. Buffington, President of the University of the Arts. "That drive to create leads them not only to make discrete art objects or performances but also products, processes, solutions, and businesses. A&I Practicum gives us a chance to develop the shape of a new curriculum and a new learning experience. It's going to allow our students a chance to explore and expand their own entrepreneurial impulse and learn by working with real entrepreneurs in real startup environments."

A&I Practicum was announced by "Startup America" with the Startup America Partnership, a private sector counterpart to the Obama administration's effort to spark high-growth firms in the United States. The Startup America Partnership is an alliance of top entrepreneurs, CEOs, university presidents, foundations, startup funders and investors, and other leaders, joining together to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of innovative, high-growth U.S. startups. Senior administration officials at the launch event will include Gary Locke, Secretary of the Department of Commerce, Karen Mills, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council, and Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

"We can no longer afford to tolerate incremental. The statistics are grim: 10% unemployment and 20% under-employment. It is the responsibility of the private sector in partnership to activate on the President's "think big" challenge. We intend to knock on the door of universities, foundations, and corporations to enlist their support," said Ecko. "We believe A&I Practicum is the modern day apprenticeship model. Plugging the real world into the university experience, is not only technically possible, it is an economic necessity."

About Artists & Instigators A&I specializes in crafting game changing companies that have the ability to reshape industries ripe for reinvention. A&I seeks to reconnect the online world to the off-line world and evolve beyond the "bits and bytes" by hiding the technology. A&I products balance profits and social good. We are pursuing a better way to transition our world economy to a digital age without leaving traditional industry in ruins. A&I was founded by entrepreneurs and investors Marc Ecko, Wayne Kimmel, and Tony Bifano. With an irreverent free spirit approach, A&I utilizes talent, technology, brand, capital and social purpose as the core ingredients to assemble a game changing company. Over the past decade, A&I's venture investment division, SeventySix Capital (www.seventysixcapital.com), has invested in startups that today support over 6,000 jobs. Activate @ www.artistsandinstigators.com

About Marc Ecko In 1993, Marc Ecko, an artist, started Ecko Untld. in his parent's garage and grew it to become a global fashion and lifestyle business with its ubiquitous rhino trademark famous worldwide. Marc Ecko Enterprises now encompasses over 25 businesses from footwear and headphones to suits and children's clothing. Today, MEE owns and operates and over 100 retail locations around the world and has revenues in excess of $1B at retail and approximately 1,000 employees worldwide. In addition, Marc founded the fastest growing digital Men's Media Network, Complex Media Network. Marc is a staunch Education reformer and developed, funded, and chairs Sweat Equity Education a 501(c)(3). Marc sits on the board of Big Picture Learning, TIKVA Children's home, and is a signatory to the Education Equality Project. He is an Emeritus Board member for the Council Fashion Designers of America and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Rutgers University in 2009. www.marcecko.com

About The University of the Arts The University of the Arts educates artists and creative professionals in a unique multidisciplinary environment that supports collaboration and experimentation. Its 2,300 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in all fields of art, design, performance, and media in Philadelphia, the cradle of American innovation. The institution's roots as a leader in creative education dates back to 1868. Building on this tradition, the University recently formed the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy, as a way to help students link their art to innovation and business. www.uarts.edu

About Startup America Partnership The Startup America Partnership, chaired by Steve Case, cofounder of AOL and chairman of the Case Foundation, is a private, nonprofit entity co-funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Case Foundation. Carl Schramm, President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation is a founding board member. The core goals of the Partnership are to increase the number of new high-growth firms that are creating economic growth, innovation, and quality jobs; celebrate and honor entrepreneurship as a core American value and source of competitive advantage; and inspire and empower an ever-greater diversity of communities and individuals to build great American companies. www.startupamericapartnership.org

SOURCE Marc Ecko