Not-for-Profit Program Launched For Minority and Women Entrepreneurs

NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Minority Venture Partners (MVP) Accelerator Inc., a not-for-profit startup program for commercializing digital, social, and mobile innovations developed by minority and women entrepreneurs announced today its formal organization resulting from the receipt of its 501(c)3 charitable status from the Internal Revenue Service. MVP was co-founded and launched by Vanguarde Consulting Group, a Venture-in-Residence firm at the New York Institute of Technology's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and leading provider of entrepreneurial training, events, and strategy solutions for small business acceleration throughout New York City. MVP is one of five regional winners of the 2015-2016 US Small Business Administration Growth Accelerator Fund Competition.

Partnering with the New York Institute of Technology's School of Management (NYIT-SOM), the MVP Accelerator (dba) provides a collaborative environment where individuals can be mentored by faculty, seasoned entrepreneurs, and professionals; all while accessing a place to build infrastructure and acquire talent. Limited access to private equity and debt financing remain persistent factors which inhibit both the creation and growth of businesses within minority communities and among women. MVP provides comprehensive support in the form of knowledge, networks, and capital to not only bring technology products developed by minority and women to market but likewise facilitate profitable exits whenever possible.

"In the current environment, trends in digital, social, and mobile technologies make MVP's accelerator focus extremely meaningful," said D. Bernard Webster Managing Partner at MVP and Vanguarde. "MVP's first class includes (4) companies currently pioneering technologies that uniquely support the advertising industry. Each firm has already introduced minimum viable product to market; and combined have total revenues of more than a $1,000,000."

MVP participants are offered the added benefits of business and technical insights from the innovation and media teams at Uniworld Group (UWG); a longstanding multicultural advertising agency which assists Fortune 50 clients such as Ford, Colgate-Pamolive, the US Marines, Amtrak, and Home Depot reach influential and emerging audiences. UWG provides guidance to MVP founders looking to create successful vendor relationships within the advertising industry, while evaluating each firm for potential contracting opportunities and integration of their technologies into current brand campaigns. In this manner, MVP supports its portfolio firms by both securing institutional funding and facilitating robust business development opportunities which drive revenue and growth.

"MVP Accelerator is committed to generating funding to invest growth capital into more than 90 companies over the next four years," according to Webster. Upon completion of the accelerator program, companies will also be able to leverage the broad partner network of the NY Private Equity Forums (NYPEF) which boasts over 3,000 successful entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and corporate partners. Through the NYPEF, MVP has developed a reliable pipeline to a pool of
investors prioritizing the launch, scale, and exit of promising minority ventures.

"We're definitely excited to see what this new batch of companies will achieve given the support they'll receive from our partners at NYIT, UWG, and the NYPEF," said MVP Co-Founders Felix Litvinsky and Charles Albanese, two long established private equity investors in the NY Metro Area. Those companies interested in the MVP Accelerator program can submit their application at http://mvpaccelerator.com. The application submission process is now open. The program's 2nd class will commence March 2016 and conclude in December 2016 when each team will have the opportunity to present their work to investors, industry leaders, and the community at large.

For more information on the MVP Accelerator, powered by Vanguarde Consulting Group (http://vanguardenyc.com) and to apply for the program, visit http://mvpaccelerator.com.

CONTACT
D. Bernard Webster
347-860-9657
[email protected]

SOURCE Vanguarde Consulting Group