Beginning in 2016, Katie and Gregg Dufort ran a golf cart taxi service that took people from bar to bar in Old Town Scottsdale and Downtown Historic Prescott. Tens of thousands of locals and tourists used the free service each year and the Duforts relied on advertising revenue to keep the business running. After a year, they had found their footing and the operation was running … [More]
Wild Rye Baking Co. Brings Home the Magic of Baking
Wild Rye is a new kind of baking company — designed for today’s varied styles and occasions of social interaction. It offers cake, frosting and pancake mixes for the gluten-free, plant-based and gluten lovers alike. “We are all about quality, ease, connection and good times,” says founder and chief baking officer Sarah Chisholm. A professional pastry chef, she says, “I … [More]
Propelling Women’s Business Dreams with the RECREATE Action Tank
In 2020, business partners Kimberly Mylls and Melissa Lamson co-founded RECREATE Now, LLC, an action tank designed to be a one-of-a-kind, one-stop-shop, mastermind business incubator for women 40 and over. Each session provides members with the laser focus, tools and connections necessary to take their business or nonprofit from idea to launch by the end of the six-month … [More]
Chandler Incubator Program Supports Young Inventors
Chandler Innovations, the city's business incubation, and entrepreneurial development program, is once again running its Jr. Track for high school students working on STEM-based projects. The program was started in 2019 in collaboration with Rachna Nath, a science educator with Arizona College Prep, Erie Campus. "My students are working on projects that … [More]
‘How to Start a Nonprofit’ Resource Guide Offered as Free Download
A new free resource guide from the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits provides insight and questions to ask when considering the creation of a new nonprofit organization, including what other options may exist for an individual to contribute to their desired community impact. If creating a nonprofit is the option, the guide leads users through the process of starting a nonprofit in … [More]
KeepWOL – Growth through Play and Reflection
KeepWOL — which stands for Keep Wondering Out Loud — creates learning and development technology that maximizes cultural intelligence in the workplace. Its SaaS talent development platform uses a digital library of multiplayer games to facilitate recurring guided immersive team experiences that cultivate engagement and learning. These psychology-based games emphasize … [More]
Form Paper Co. Goes Big and Bold with Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper
Form Paper Co. is an online company offering commercial-grade, peel-and-stick wallpaper designed “for those who aren’t afraid to go big or bold,” says founder Dala Al-Fuwaires. “All our patterns are vetted and approved by an interior designer, making high-design accessible and affordable. Our peel-and-stick wallpaper breaks the mold with curvy contours and statement-making … [More]
$1.5M in Grants for Entrepreneurs and Startups as Second Round Opens
invisionAZ and StartUpAZ announce the second round of EmergeAZ Fast Grant funds to support innovative startups based in Arizona. In partnership with Governor Doug Ducey, $1.5 million has been allocated to the EmergeAZ Fast II Grant to provide resources to entrepreneurs and startups with emerging technologies designed to address current and future economic, health, or societal … [More]
Challenges for Future-Proofing a Startup Business
Starting a business today feels very different from how it felt 10 years ago and is unrecognizable from 20 years ago. The main challenge for startups today is the choice of how day-to-day business gets done in either a physical or a virtual space. This was a much easier decision just a few years ago, as most startups felt the only logical choice would be to find a convenient … [More]
Phoenix Looks for Next Generation of Entrepreneur Farmers with Fellowship Program
The city of Phoenix Office of Environmental Programs (OEP) is currently accepting applications for the new Urban Agriculture Fellowship Program as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Phoenix Resilient Food System Initiative. The fellowship is designed to train the next generation of growers who will represent the future of farm entrepreneurship, innovation, and business … [More]
Dramatic Shift in VC Funding Toward Rising Startup Cities Like Phoenix, Reveals Report
Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, a seed stage venture capital fund that invests exclusively in startups based outside of the Bay Area, New York City, and Boston, today released its “Beyond Silicon Valley” report, in collaboration with PitchBook. The report explores how and why funding for startups has steadily shifted towards rising cities over the past decade. First, … [More]
