In a world where the costs to build a company and the technical barriers to enter a market are decreasing rapidly, marketing and brand strategy have become critical to building enterprise value. The Brandery focuses in this area and offers a unique value to their portfolio with access to some of the best brand managers and marketing strategists in the world today.
Phin Barnes, First Round Capital
What is The Brandery
The Brandery is a seed stage startup accelerator that leverages the expertise of the Cincinnati region, namely branding, marketing and design. We believe that building your brand— and not just a product— is a way startups can be more resource efficient and increase their probability of success. In addition to an elite mentor list, startups will be paired with world-class creative agencies and have access to some of the biggest companies in the world, including Procter & Gamble, dunnhumby, and Kroger. The Brandery runs one, four-month accelerator program a year for a group of startups selected from a highly competitive application pool. We receive a 6% equity stake in each startup in exchange for $50k, a year of free office space, and over $200k in additional benefits.
Why Branding
Our philosophy is that if your start-up is consumer focused, you must be brand focused. That belief is at the core of The Brandery and why we launched our program in Cincinnati, Ohio. We feel that there is an amazing opportunity for consumer startups to leverage the fundamentals of brand building. At The Brandery, you will lay the foundation for your brand as you work with market research partners and some of the best agencies in Cincinnati. Through our program, you will uncover meaningful consumer insights that will help you create your startup as a true brand. We do this in a supportive entrepreneurial environment, surrounded by your fellow startups and our team of rockstar mentors.
$50K Seed Funding and Support
Lay the foundation for your brand as you work with market research partners and some of the best agencies in Cincinnati. Your startup will be seeded in meaningful consumer insights and will far surpass a fancy logo.
Advice and Mentoring
You’ll have a team of world-class mentors providing input and advice. In addition to our brand marketing mentors, your team will include industry experts, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, legal support, and technologists. The Brandery prides itself on providing each accepted company an “unfair advantage” to succeed — not available elsewhere. You’ll have access to the partners, mentors and resources typically reserved for major corporations.
Building Your Network
The Brandery will help your company with introductions and connections to potential partners and customers, including some of the largest brands in the world. In addition to The Brandery program culminating in a Demo Day where your company will pitch the press, angel investors, brand marketers and leading venture capitalists, you will also have opportunities to participate in a number of other pitch events. In previous years, additional events have included:
P&G Pitch Day: Pitch for pilot opportunities with nearly 100 P&G marketers.
Agency Pitch Day: Pitch pilot opportunities to industry leading creative agencies.
City Blitzes: We’ll do the legwork and set up additional investor meetings for you in other key cities. In the past, this has included NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Over $200K in Free Benefits
From free assistance from a creative agency in town to legal assistance to discounts at local establishments to hosting credits, the Brandery has partnered to give you valuable resources. A partial list of benefits available to your company can be found
here.
A Great Deal & A Great Supporting Network
In exchange for The Brandery program, advice, mentorship, connections, and demo day, The Brandery receives about a 6% warrant in your company.
