Once upon a time there was an entrepreneur.
This entrepreneur had done pretty well for themselves; started a business, worked hard to raise money and scale the business, and even fought the venture forces so the business could stay and grow in Florida. He knew first hand that being an entrepreneur can be a lonely journey, that raising capital is hard, and he had made some mistakes along the way. One day he looked around and thought, “What can I do to help other entrepreneurs start and scale their businesses?” He talked to his entrepreneur friends and they were thinking the very same thing.
They decided to open a space where entrepreneurs, freelancers, creatives, and remote workers could have a place to work and collaborate. A place that would be a community, a hub for entrepreneurs. This organization was Canvs.
Another group of entrepreneurs wanted to help the community by starting acceleration programs to help founders avoid the mistakes they had made and to help get them further, faster than they could alone. This organization was Starter Studio.
Lastly, yet another group of entrepreneurs wanted to help companies find seed funding. This would enable starters to get their products to market and gain the angel or venture funding to continue to grow their businesses, so they could not only start and grow in Florida, but stay and scale as well. This organization was FireSpring Fund.
As time went on and as so often happens in the startup world, a light bulb went off and we all looked around and thought, “Why not combine these organizations into one? We would be so much more efficient. It will help us reach and serve our customers better, and expand our programs to help more entrepreneurs,” So that’s what we did. We merged the three organizations Canvs, Starter Studio, and FireSpring Fund into one, and called it StarterStudio!
Our mission remains the same. We still have accelerator programs, workshops, meetups, educational events, seed funding, and collaborative workspaces. Now they are all found under one organization, stronger, and united to serve our growing community.
Our story is nowhere close to finished, and we look to you, our community, for the next steps. We’re constantly looking for more communities to serve, for like-minded sponsors who are passionate about our mission, and for starters and creatives looking to change our region and our world.