We have talent in Cincinnati, and a lot of it comes from the top-notch institutions nearby. A Miami University Entrepreneurship class meets in our space, we have a partnership with the University of Cincinnati’s Law School (you’ll read about this one later), and we’ve had interns from NKU and Xavier. On top of that, we’re literally right down the hill from one of the top five design schools in the world, UC’s College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning. Our startups don’t have to look far for impressive resources and talent.

One of the key reasons we formed The Brandery was because we knew that there were three top 25 entrepreneurship programs within a one hour radius of Cincinnati. Consequently, our companies have access to students from University of Cincinnati, Miami University, Xavier University, and Northern Kentucky University. We have found top design, development, and hustler talent at these schools.

- Rob McDonald, Co-founder of The Brandery and attorney at Taft, Stettinius and Hollister.

We’re moving on up in the latest seed accelerator rankings. Read Josh Pichler’s story in The Enquirer to see the full list revealed at SXSW today.

Apply to The Brandery now.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur already or not, it helps to be in an environment that encourages creativity, speed, and camaraderie. The Brandery gets you in the right mindset and makes you focus on the task at hand. Sometimes that’s just the push you need to get your idea to take off.

The nicest thing was being able to have so many like-minded people around you doing the same thing at The Brandery. For our class, once one company released their Beta, everyone else felt like they needed to step their game up. You are constantly in the startup life. You’re surrounded by it, and you have no choice but to be completely immersed in it. Especially for us, living with two other companies during the program, it was definitely that ‘all-in’ mentality; the startup life or nothing.

- Konrad Billetz, CEO/Co-founder of Frameri

Frameri is a 2013 graduate of The Brandery. Their team lived in OTR in what was quickly dubbed “The Startup House” with the co-founders of Co-Ed Supply and Awesomatic. Frameri is the first interchangable frame and lens system that allows you to change prescriptions or frames in a snap. Stay tuned for big news from their team soon.

As we mentioned in Reason #5, we constantly have experts hanging out at The Brandery. In addition to that, VCs, mentors, and community supporters pop in all the time. Even if they aren’t your assigned mentors or coming to meet with you, the visitors are likely interested in what you’re doing. The Brandery founders and GM are pretty well connected too— any connection you need in town or beyond, they’re happy to make an intro. We hope to create some lasting connections that can benefit you and your business in the future.

The Brandery helped me start building a high quality network that has naturally kept extending and growing since the end of the program. That network has led to many great things for my company."
- James Fisher, CEO/Co-founder of Roadtrippers

Roadtrippers, a 2012 graduate of The Brandery, is a web and mobile application that allows you to discover unique attractions on your next great road trip. They have raised over $3.8 million and are headquartered in Cincinnati.

We chose to be in Cincinnati for a reason. Named a Top 5 Consumer Marketing Region in the world, Cincinnati boasts the highest per-capita branding professionals in the world with the HQs of Procter & Gamble, Macy’s, Kroger, and other Fortune 500s at your fingertips. The creative and marketing talent is booming, which is perfect for building your brand with us. We’re also cultivating an extremely inviting entrepreneurial ecosystem— it seems like everywhere you look there are professionals that want to help out a co-founder.

One of best attributes of The Brandery is that it’s located in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati community is supportive of startups and the ability to connect with anyone, at any company in town, is priceless for a startup.

- Michael Bergman, CEO/Co-founder of REPP

REPP is a transferable badge system that shows potential dates, employers, friends, and clients the kind of person you are. REPP allows you to run a background check on yourself, ensure the information is correct, and share it with those involved in your daily digital life. They kept their HQ in Cincinnati after going through The Brandery in 2012.

Apply now.

This is a little-known fact about us. While we do take 6% equity stake in the companies that we accept to the program, that money is invested directly back into the program for current and future startups. It’s all about fueling the ecosystem, and having non-profit status helps us to do that.

That was one of the selling points for us. Of all the incubators and accelerators we were considering, we liked that The Brandery was a non-profit. It changes the incentives of the program to be more in line with the best interests of the companies. Also, I liked that any success we have will go directly towards helping other fledgling companies, just as we were.

- Ian Halpern, CEO/Co-founder of RentShare

RentShare, a 2011 graduate of The Brandery, allows renters to pay their rent online without the need for the landlord to sign up. Through RentShare, roommates can split expenses from utilities to groceries. They are headquartered in New York City.

Apply to The Brandery now.

During our accelerator session, we have programming that will keep you on track and inspired. Each week has a different focus, from branding and consumer understanding, to metrics, data, and analysis, to fundraising. We bring in experts on the subject each week to give a brief talk on how to perfect that aspect of your business. They say accelerators may be the new MBA, and our programming is supportive of that.

The Brandery was very hands-on, and provided us day-to-day mentorship. In retrospect, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish half of what we did without The Brandery’s help.

- Rujul Zaparde, CEO/Co-founder of FlightCar

Apply now.

All photos courtesy of Zackariah Cole Photography.

While it’s not the finish line, Demo Day is definitely something to work toward for our startups. It is a fantastic showcase of how much can truly be accomplished in four months. Last year, we held Demo Day at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Over 400 investors, mentors, and supporters from around the country attended.

There are a ton of demo days hosted every year but we can only focus on a select few. We always come to The Brandery’s Demo Day because we know every presentation will show a strong team passionate about building a big business. They truly have a gift for finding the next great company."
- Chris Olsen, Partner at Drive Capital

Drive Capital is a new venture capital firm that invests in innovative technology, healthcare, and consumer companies in the Midwest. They recently announced a $250 million fund to focus on startups in the region.

From the beginning, we’ve been focused on the consumer, and we believe you should be, too. You’ll work with expert marketers throughout the program to dig deep into where your company fits into your consumer’s life. We want you to have a comprehensive understanding of who your customer is, where they are, how they think, and how you reach them.

During our Growth Hack Day, we had an incredibly powerful and challenging discussion with Stan Joosten at P&G about how to scale. His expertise in digital marketing and growth hacking allowed us to dive deep into our user acquisition channels and our word-of-mouth referral opportunities.

- Marissa Hu, CEO/Co-founder of Co-Ed Supply

Apply now.
See reason #1 and reason #2 to apply to The Brandery.

When you arrive at The Brandery on day one of the accelerator program, we’ll hand you a list of about seven mentors that have been handpicked to guide you through the process. You can read all about our experts here.

All accelerators boast a deep mentor list. The difference is the Brandery’s are deeply engaged, available and ready to lend a hand whenever & wherever your business needs assistance. Any introduction, whether it’s top tier VC’s, corporate executives, branding specialists or technical help are always one email / call away."

- Nick Cromydas, CEO/Co-founder of TapFit

TapFit is a mobile app that allows you one-click booking for any fitness option near you without any commitment. The app is available for download on iPhone and Android in the Cincinnati and Chicago markets.

Apply to The Brandery here.

For the entire month of March, we’re sharing all the reasons you should apply to our 2014 accelerator program. The reasons come straight from our alums and supporters. They highlight what our graduates found most beneficial from the program or what makes us different. We hope this will provide insight into the program and eliminate any uncertainty that potential applicants may have. We’ll file each one under the tag “reasons-to-apply.”

When you’re accepted to The Brandery, we’ll pair you 1:1 with a world-class design agency. Last year, our partners were LPK, We Have Become Vikings, Gyro, GoDutch Studio, Resource, Possible, Hyperquake, Rockfish, Rocket Science, and Empower MediaMarketing.

It is by no amount of exaggeration that I say the branding agency we were paired with at The Brandery fundamentally changed the direction of our business. They gave us so much more than just a new logo and name - they helped us redefine our value proposition, which ultimately reshaped our entire product and roadmap. That is one of the reasons we’re here today.

- Ryan Watson, CEO/Co-founder of Sqrl

Sqrl is software that makes collecting information from clients completely painless. The team from Columbus, OH was accepted to The Brandery in 2013 and has since raised a $550K seed round. Their partnership with Gyro has exceeded expectations and continued to assist Sqrl long after the program has ended.