N.C. A&T to Host Women’s Business Enterprise National Council 2024 Incubator

N.C. A&T to Host Women’s Business Enterprise National Council 2024 Incubator

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Aug. 27, 2024) — The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) will hold a Women of Color (WOC) Incubator at North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University offering resources, support and provide community to aspiring student entrepreneurs. 

The incubator will host six virtual evening sessions beginning Wednesday, Sept. 18, culminating with an in-person pitch competition Wednesday, Oct. 30, in the Deese Ballroom at the Student Center. Each virtual session is from 5 to 7 p.m., with the in-person pitch competition from 5 to 8 p.m. 

All women of color students, or recent N.C. A&T graduates, are eligible to apply. Applicants can come from multiple academic disciplines but must have an idea or early-stage entrepreneurial venture. The cohort size will range from 30 to 60 participants. 

The WOC Incubator — which is WBENC’s premier program — has created many opportunities for young entrepreneurs at historically Black colleges and universities. 

Cohort participants will develop and refine their ideas, learn how to create prototypes, understand financial principles in business and receive guidance on effective pitches. This year, the program offers two new features: mentor office hours and one-on-one support. 

The incubator will award seed funding to three students at the conclusion of the pitch competition. The Pitch Competition Award prize is $5,000; the Business Innovation Award prize, $3,000; and the Audience Choice Award prize, $1,000. The winner of the competition also will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the 2025 WBENC National Conference in New Orleans. 

In 2023, this initiative awarded $44,000 in seed funding to 22 WOC Incubator recipients and two summer internships. Since the incubator’s establishment in 2021, the program has awarded $85,500 to 48 recipients and four paid internships. 

Following this program, WBENC will offer continued engagement for participants with programs like NextGen, the Collegiate Accelerator Program and the Women of Color Program. 

Applications for the WOC Incubator are due by Friday, Sept. 6, at 11:59 p.m.