The Opportunity

Innovative ideas are abundant, but the resources to develop them are often lacking.

The Bold Path Fellowship aims to expand access to entrepreneurship, increasingly seen as a postsecondary pathway by students and institutions. 

• Course offerings in entrepreneurship are up ~20x over the last ~30 years.¹
• Interest in degree programs focused on entrepreneurship has followed suit; in March 2020, a survey showed a 66% year-over-year increase.²
• However, students’ ability to leverage their degrees and launch new businesses upon graduation is highly dependent on their household wealth.
  • Two-thirds of entrepreneurs use personal savings as a source of funding, and more than one-fifth rely on family for funding.³
  • The top 95th percentile of wealthy individuals in the United States is more likely to start businesses than any other income group.⁴

Our goal is to make entrepreneurship a more accessible and more equitable pathway for the career success of postsecondary students.

Businesses that have at least $100,000 in startup capital are 23% less likely to fail than businesses with $5,000 or less in startup capital.³

The program will provide fellows with $120,000 in grant funding over two years—the equivalent of a family and friends round of funding for entrepreneurs who may not have personal or family resources or networks to raise capital at the earliest stage. 

Fellows will be able to pursue their business ventures full-time with significant financial support.

While there are existing national fellowships, incubators and accelerators, we believe there is power in a local approach for creating successful businesses—particularly given that most venture capital funding is concentrated in only five regional areas.⁴

The Bold Path Fellowship has a place-based strategy, supporting geographies that have been traditionally underfunded and have limited access to capital for entrepreneurs. ECMC Group and ECMC Foundation are excited to launch this program and support audacious innovators in Birmingham, Alabama—a midsized metropolitan area with a growing and thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Collaboration is a key design principle of the Fellowship and partnership with local organizations is vital to understanding and serving the needs of each city. Our key strategic partners at Prosper have helped us build relationships and receive feedback from community members in developing the program.

Bold Path Fellows will be paired with mentors from the local community to provide guidance and advice as Fellows develop their businesses and navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship.