ANNOUNCING OUR 2025 COHORT!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to apply. Our team is excited to announce the incredible group of founders who make up our inaugural 2025 CBA cohort. Meet the group below!

🎉 Introducing our 2025 CBA Cohort!

Through the Community Business Accelerator by FOUND/LA and Grid110, this group of 22 founders will work diligently over the following months to refine their growth strategies, strengthen their community impact, and elevate their business operations to better serve Los Angeles. Learn more about the CBA Program HERE.

These 17 LA-based community-driven companies are working on innovative ventures that all serve our local Los Angeles community in the Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Fashion & Apparel spaces, and beyond!

We look forward to supporting these founders with resources, education, and community to accelerate sustainable growth and help these companies continue to scale their impact.

🚀 When we uplift the businesses serving our community, we uplift our whole community. 🚀

Join us in welcoming these incredible founders to the community! Amplify the announcement on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter(X)!

Here’s a little bit about these incredible companies:

  • Affirmation Darling - a wellness stationery & lifestyle brand that empowers individuals through affirmations, with a focus on supporting mental health and resilience.

  • Blacker the Berry Juicery - a cultural movement disguised as a lifestyle brand, rooted in the celebration of Black heritage and shared experiences, who use fashion, wellness, and community spaces to amplify Black voices and narratives.

  • GLAUDI by Johana Hernandez - a luxury fashion brand specializing in made-to-measure bridal gowns, couture evening wear, quinceañera dresses, and custom suits for both men and women, which is celebrated for its glamorous designs that empower women of all shapes and sizes, making every client feel confident and stunning.

  • Griselda Labs - the first minority-owned technology firm from Boyle Heights, combining deep technical expertise with a commitment to community, they build impactful, user-focused solutions and help young talent to pursue careers in technology.

  • Masalawali Chai - a queer Desi-owned pop-up chai shop and collective liberation space dedicated to reclaiming South Asian rooted traditions, taking up space, and serving ActualChai™.

  • Mixed Up Clothing - a children’s fashion brand celebrating diversity through culturally inspired designs that promote inclusion and cultural awareness.

  • Neighbors Cafe + Community - a South LA-based cafe dedicated to creating access to affordable, locally sourced, and nutritious meals in a welcoming environment, also addressing food insecurity and foster community connection through our single-price menu concept, events, and outreach initiatives that inspire wellness, sustainability, and social change.

  • People's Yoga - specializes in providing our clients opportunities to discover, play and explore their mental, physical and emotional strength by offering weekly yoga and meditation classes at our flagship studio, in-school mindfulness programming for K-6th grade, an annual yoga teacher training and special events and on-going classes with community partners.

  • Share Club - a resale Shop & Community Center, especially Women's & Children's Clothing + Goods.

  • SimpleIEP - streamlines the IEP process with AI, helping special education teams save time, ensure compliance, and focus on supporting students, by making documentation faster and collaboration easier, empowering educators to help every student thrive.

  • The Lila Society - empowering Latina women in Los Angeles through Reggaeton, community and movement, which goal is to create a space where women feel energized, celebrated, and uplifted. Our events provide the perfect opportunity to stay active, meet like-minded women, and embrace the vibrant essence of our shared culture.

  • Thread Haus Co - redefining sustainable fashion with innovative, multifunctional, and non-gendered apparel and accessories. Combining cutting-edge technology with a commitment to social impact, we empower marginalized communities through our educational incubator program.

  • Treats. - a community that empowers participants to heal from burnout their way. Through consistent introduction to science-backed modalities and experiences that address the five pillars of burnout recovery, Treats. helps mostly working millennials, the next generation of leaders in the workforce, curate a self-care routine that will last.

  • TutorD Scholars - an Employment Social Enterprise (ESE) focused on providing accessible and sustainable technical trainings, which primary aim is to empower Scholars with skills and experiences to identify and capitalize on market opportunities,

  • Violet Botanical Skincare - a natural approach to your skincare and self-care routines to help achieve or maintain a healthy glow, by providing hand-crafted body care products to moisturize and protect dry, sensitive skin using the purest, most captivating wild-harvested African botanical ingredients.

 The Community Business Accelerator: by FOUND/LA and Grid110

The Community Business Accelerator, by FOUND/LA & Grid110, is a 16-week intensive program designed to empower and elevate Los Angeles-based businesses serving the local community. This accelerator provides hands-on support to companies that are not just driven by profit but also by a shared mission to serve their communities—whether through job creation, equitable access to resources, or any other way of pouring back into local LA neighborhoods. Throughout this program, founders will develop a tailored approach to securing capital, refining their product-market fit, building high-performing teams, and implementing operational roadmaps to drive sustained growth.

Business with Purpose

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Growth with Impact

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Business with Purpose • Growth with Impact •

PROGRAM ELGIBILITY

Who is eligible to apply?

LOCATION

Businesses must be based in Los Angeles County and have a focus on serving the local community.

STAGE

Companies must have been in business for at least one year with a demonstrated product or service. Ideal candidates are early-stage entrepreneurs who are refining their business model and are ready for growth.

COMMITMENT

Founders must be able to fully commit to the 16-week program, attending weekly sessions on Wednesdays from 2 PM - 4 PM PST, and actively participate in discussions, collaboration, and self-directed learning.

GROWTH

Founders should have a clear intention to grow their business, improve operational efficiency, and refine product-market fit.

FUNDING

Businesses should have received less than $250k in total funding from any source.

What does the program entail?

PROGRAM DETAILS

Program sessions will be held weekly for 16 weeks on Wednesdays from 2pm - 4pm PST. These sessions will include hands-on instruction, discussion, and collaboration, with accompanying self-directed learning to further founder’s understanding of the topic. In addition to this, we will host optional events outside of weekly sessions.

The weekly sessions cover topics such as:

Building a fundraising roadmap

Developing a clear growth & operational roadmap

Enhancing product or service offerings

Effectively communicating through pitching & storytelling

PROGRAM FIT

Who is this accelerator best for?

Businesses who are embedded in and/or focused on serving the local Los Angeles community and/or people.

Entrepreneurs who value learning in a collaborative environment, building alongside fellow entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs who thrive with a blend of structured, hands-on instruction with the flexibility of self-directed learning.

 FAQs

  • The 16 week program will take place on Wednesdays from 2PM - 4PM PST between January, 2025 - May, 2025, with Orientation taking place in early January, 2025.

  • Yes. Companies must be based in LA, with an interest in growing and connecting with the LA ecosystem.

  • Each week consists of about 2 hours of content to be reviewed and completed asynchronously, in addition to weekly 2 hour live sessions led by the Grid110 Team. Along with this, we will also host optional weekly events and office hours to further your learning. Like anything, you get out what you put in. This program is designed to support founders through the entrepreneurial process, while allowing them to focus on running the day-to-day operations of their business. 

  • The program is free for all accepted companies. Companies must go through an application process to be eligible for this program. To add, Grid110 does not take equity in or provide funding to any company.

  • Grid110 does not focus on any particular business type or vertical. We welcome applications from any field, sector, or industry (except cannabis). Knowledge and skills taught and reviewed during the program are applicable and transferable to ideas from all sectors & industries. While most businesses are tech enabled, you do not necessarily need to be a “tech company” to be considered. Our companies range across various types of products/services: SaaS, mobile apps, e-commerce, CPG, food, social enterprises, fashion, B2B software, health/wellness, AI, sports, beauty.

  • Due to the volume of applications we receive, we are unable to accommodate any edits to applications once submitted.

  • While all members are encouraged to engage with content, a maximum of two co-founders / team members can attend the weekly live sessions.

  • This accelerator will cover key topics, such as:

    • Fundraising & Capital Pathways

    • Product-Market Fit

    • Team Building & Expansion

    • Growth & Operational Strategy

    • Marketing & Branding

  • While the primary program sessions will be self-directed online content and virtual zoom sessions, we will plan for some in-person community building opportunities.

  • In addition to joining our highly engaged, diverse, and generous community of alumni founders and community partners, selected companies will gain access to our platforms and tools perks package valued at $100K+, access to our engaged & supportive founder slack community, and access to our network of 3K+ industry mentors, experts, and investors.

  • Please reach out to programs@grid110.org

FOUND/LA supports local entrepreneurs to help them build their business, purpose, and community. They connect future and existing business owners—particularly women, immigrants, and minorities—with resources to help them succeed. That includes funding, educational tools, incubator-style workshops, unique mentorship opportunities, and most importantly, a community of other local entrepreneurs.

FOUND/LA works with partners to make sure entrepreneurs have access to the resources they need to grow their businesses. Through partners, FOUND/LA provides funding in the form of loans, as well as incubator-style workshops, training, and mentorship. FOUND/LA also creates a community of like-minded business owners who can learn from and alongside each other.

Learn more about FOUND/LA HERE.

Grid110 is an economic and community development non-profit dedicated to creating clear pathways to success for early-stage entrepreneurs. Their mission is to make the entrepreneurial path more equitable, inclusive and accessible. Grid110 supports companies across a diverse range of industries and stages through their no cost, no equity cohort-based accelerator programs.

Their alumni have raised $123M+ in outside capital, with 70% of the funding raised by women founders and 72% by founders of color. For every $1 donated, Grid110 generates $42 back into the community, in addition to the 625+ local jobs that Grid110 companies have created. Grid110 is an award-winning organization that fosters the most thriving, inviting, and inclusive community for entrepreneurs and puts their founders’ needs first.

Learn more about Grid110 HERE.