Endeavor Atlanta has selected four Birmingham companies for the inaugural cohort of ScaleUp Birmingham: a non-dilutive 6-month program that equips founders who’ve achieved strong product-market fit and high year over year growth with the resources and confidence they need to take their companies to the next level.
The ScaleUp Birmingham application process included a written application, panel interview with the Endeavor team, and Second Opinion Review with a mentor in the Endeavor network. Candidate companies were rated according to the following evaluation matrix:
Business Model: Market size, go to market strategy, scalability
Business Timing: Growth rate, customer traction
Entrepreneur Mindset: Entrepreneur focus, coach-ability, ambition, “pay it forward” mentality
Financial Position: Months cash on hand, burn rate, access to capital
In order to keep the bar high and ensure an intimate experience focused around the dynamic challenges that come with scale, Endeavor selected only 4 of the 14 teams that qualified for interviews:
● Case Status enables law firms to engage and update clients with ease. CEO Lauren Sturdivant and cofounder Andy Seavers (CTO) completed the Techstars Atlanta program in 2018 and moved their headquarters to Birmingham after receiving investment from Alabama Futures Fund in 2019. Their recently announced funding round from BIP capital was well timed as the influx of legal firms adapting to remote work fuels a period of hyper-growth.
● Fledging provides premium electronics for everyone, starting with storage products. Cofounders Weida Tan (CEO) and Steven Robbins (CSO) met at the University of Alabama Birmingham and completed the Velocity Program at Innovation Depot in 2019. Ethan Summers (Director of Commercial Operations) joined the team in June 2019. The rapid and steady growth in sales of Fledging’s flagship product is fueling their dominance on e-commerce platforms and expansion into key peripherals categories such as hubs and docking stations in 2020.
● O3 Solutions is an agile project management solution for industrial construction. CEO Josh Girvin previously worked with cofounders Mandi Coker (VP Education & Engagement) and Jared Elliott (VP Product) to scale a company in the same industry before founding O3 in 2016, and the team has leveraged their shared experience to build strong partnerships and customer traction.
● Smart Alto engages leads and schedules appointments to help realtors achieve their revenue goals. Hassan Riggs (CEO) and Wayne Anderson (CRO) founded Smart Alto and completed the Y-combinator program in San Francisco in 2017, but are both Birmingham natives dedicated to scaling the business in their hometown. Their unique combination of inside sales assistants, live website chat, custom scripts, and text message follow-up increases appointment conversion from 4% to 25% on average, driving $40,000 in increased revenue for the average realtor client.
While Endeavor’s ScaleUp Program is offered in other Endeavor affiliate offices around the world, each affiliate designs the content based on the needs of their local entrepreneurial ecosystems. The ScaleUp Birmingham program is unique in that it incorporates leadership development from Executive Coach Karen Walker. ScaleUp Birmingham will also match founding teams with a more experienced entrepreneur for ongoing, founder-to-founder mentorship, and plug them into Endeavor's regional network for tactical advice around specific business challenges.
To customize their ScaleUp roadmap, entrepreneurs will undergo a strategic, growth-focused assessment through EY’s proprietary 7 Drivers of Growth workshop to identify ways to accelerate growth and achieve market leadership. The program will conclude with a mock selection panel in which entrepreneurs sit down with top regional mentors and entrepreneurs and receive tactical, meaningful feedback, and qualifying participants will be invited to begin the selection process for Endeavor’s global network.
The end goal of Scale Up is to accelerate the growth of high-potential entrepreneur-led businesses and further Endeavor’s mission of scaling up, going big, and giving back.