Circular Board Named as SBA Competition Winner

HOUSTON, TEXAS, October 13, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Investment and Innovation has announced that Circular Board (www.thecircularboard.com) has been selected as a winner of the third annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Circular Board is a virtual accelerator supporting women entrepreneurs in thinking bigger and growing their companies to multi-million dollar revenues. 

According to SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, “Accelerators serve entrepreneurs in a broad set of industries and sectors – from manufacturing and tech startups, to farming and biotech – with many focused on creating a diverse and inclusive small business community. Through this national competition, we are also empowering accelerators which are led by and support women or other underrepresented groups.”

We created a virtual accelerator to democratize the resources available to female founders, no matter where they are located or who they know at the big venture capital firms.

Carolyn Rodz, Founder and CEO

In addition to the SBA, the competition was also hosted by the Office of Native American Affairs, Office of Veterans Business Development, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Foundation, and the 68 recipients will receive a total of $3.4 million in prizes.

“The spirit of Circular Board is perfectly reflected in the mission of the SBA Growth Accelerator Fund. We created a virtual accelerator to democratize the resources available to female founders, no matter where they are located or who they know at the big venture capital firms. The current startup ecosystem isn’t set up for women and minority entrepreneurs or those outside of New York and Silicon Valley, but we know that there are brilliant women with great business ideas in places like Houston, Miami and Des Moines, not to mention in developing countries,” said Carolyn Rodz, founder and CEO, Circular Board. 

“I’d like to offer my gratitude to departments and organizations, like the SBA, that envision a future where emerging businesses led by women and minorities become the norm, instead of the exception,” added Rodz. 

Women entrepreneurs with scalable business models and the commitment to grow are invited to apply to Circular Board’s 12-week program (held three times per year) at www.thecircularboard.com/accelerator. 

Circular Board is proud to partner with Dell Technologies, Johnson & Johnson and Urban Decay.

About Circular Board: 

Circular Board is a collaborative accelerator for growth-oriented female entrepreneurs who lead, or aspire to build, businesses with multi-million dollar revenues. We support women in business around the world through mentorship, content, community and capital, and connect founders to the resources they need to fuel growth. To date, female founders from 6 continents and nearly every state in the U.S. have participated in the accelerator. 

Circular Board also hosts Circular Summit, an annual conference for high-potential women entrepreneurs and investors. The next Circular Summit will be held March 30-31, 2017, in Houston. For more information, visit www.thecircularboard.com.

About the Founder, Carolyn Rodz

Circular Board was founded by three-time entrepreneur Carolyn Rodz. She has helped raise billions of dollars of capital for innovative organizations, created a luxury retail line that sold in over 400 stores worldwide, and later launched an interactive marketing firm serving Fortune 500 enterprises and startups positioning themselves for industry leadership. Carolyn now serves as an advocate for women entrepreneurs, connecting them to sources of capital, strategic partners, and mentors to create businesses that scale. She is recognized among Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2016 “Women to Watch”, as a Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur, and Micro to Millions awardee in partnership with American Express. Carolyn is a delegate to the United Nations Foundation Global Accelerator, a member of the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, TEDx speaker, former student board member for the Texas A&M Mays College of Business, and contributor to Fortune, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur and Time.

Source: Circular Board