What is the StartOut Scholarship Program?
Startout is proud to offer free 12 month memberships to our Founder Program for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who have been historically underrepresented, underserved, and underestimated within our community. We want to ensure that all LGBTQ+ founders can inspire generations to come. This is one step of many in leveling the playing field and moving toward economic empowerment.
StartOut Scholarship Program is here to support ALL LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, no matter what ethnicity, gender orientation, or location. They have the passion, drive, and smarts to create jobs, raise capital, and innovate, and deserve your support. This $100,000 multifunctional partnership was formed to lift up LGBTQ+ startups and small business owners through a strategic offering of mentorship, education, design and marketing assistance, and scholarship programs for StartOut members.
StartOut is also working closely with 99designs by Vistaprint to identify 10 LGBTQ+-owned small businesses for participation in 99 Days of Design, an initiative that provides bespoke design support and financial donations of $15,000 to help small businesses as they emerge from the pandemic.
- 12-month scholarships for Latinx/ Hispanic founders
- 12-month scholarships for Women/Non-Binary founders
- 12-month scholarships for Black founders
- 12-month scholarships for founders aged 45+
- Scholarships for DEI Founders
We also offer 6-month scholarships to founders who can demonstrate financial need.
Eligibility criteria:
- At least one founder must identify as LGBTQ+
- You work at least part-time on your startup
- You are developing a scalable solution (product or service) to address a large market ($500 million or more)
- You are able to identify specific and critical milestones that you can realistically achieve in the next twelve months
