Dashfire Launch!

Written by Rick Desai, Dashfire

Today, EverTrue, an education fundraising platform and one of Dashfire’s earliest portfolio companies, announced a $5.25 million financing from Bain Capital Ventures.  Headquartered in Boston, EverTrue was founded by Brent Grinna, a Chicago entrepreneur and a former colleague of mine at Madison Dearborn Partners.  EverTrue has grown with the support of some Chicago’s most influential investors: senior executives at Madison Dearborn and William Blair & Company joined New World Ventures, Stuart Larkins of i2A Fund, Brendan Carroll of Victory Park and Trunk Club CEO Brian Spaly in EverTrue’s seed financing.

This event is a reflection of Brent’s vision and leadership – having turned a series of wireframes into a venture backed business that solves real problems for educational institutions.  It is also an important milestone for Dashfire and a testament to our model to enabling startups.  And it falls just a week after we announced our Dashfire Launch, a startup program aimed at replicating what we have achieved with EverTrue, BucketFeet, Bloomboard and other technology startups.  Spearheaded by my partner, Kelsey Lutz, Dashfire Launch targets MBA students at Chicago Booth and Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and awards the winner $35K in hands-on actionable services including business modeling, design, development, branding, digital marketing, and hosting to launch their startup.  The program’s goals are to enable non-technical entrepreneurs and showcase the power of collaboration in Chicago.

Enabling Entrepreneurship.  We’ve seen this story over and over.  Aspiring entrepreneur wants to build a company but cannot secure a tech co-founder or find a reliable team.  They revert to writing a business plan or pitching a Powerpoint.  This is exactly why we started Dashfire.  We partner with non-technical entrepreneurs, strategize on the business model, and provide software design and development to go to market.  #nomorepowerpoints.  Entrepreneurs can use their product to acquire customers, generate revenue, build a team, and raise capital. Business schools serve as valuable entrepreneur hub for us as they provide entrepreneurs the tools to accelerate their startups (read more here).  Notably, half of Dashfire’s partner companies were founded by MBAs.

Chicago’s Startup Community.  This is a viable community and we are proud to be a part of it. Thank you Groupon. Thank you 1871.  And to the Chicago isn’t the Valley comment, we say, it doesn’t have to be.  You can make movies outside of Hollywood and trade stocks outside of New York; innovation can’t be restricted to geography.   Accordingly, we work with startups nationally, but currently have 11 live startups that are based in Chicago.  They have all benefited from the collaborative nature of our city. Dashfire Launch allows us and our sponsors to reinvest in Chicago, collaborate, and continue to supply our eco-system with new ventures.

Applications for Dashfire Launch are due on April 8th.  The summer program starts in June and will last 10 weeks out of 1871.  We have already read some excellent applications and are excited for what’s in store!