These companies make up the fifth cohort of StartUp Worcester winners

Worcester, Mass. – On Tuesday, April 23, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, along with The Venture Forum and Worcester Clean Tech Incubator, selected 11 startup companies as the winners of the fifth Startup Worcester cohort.

This year’s StartUp Worcester winners are:

  • ACCL Marketing
  • AMBassadors Community Development, LLC
  • Breiter Planet Properties
  • GrowBox
  • HVK Children’s Foundation
  • In Virtu Data Solutions, LLC
  • Made in America
  • MyTipz
  • Phenic Natural Skincare
  • Proximate
  • Rydro Farming

Each company will receive year-long memberships to all three organizations effective May 2019 through May 2020. Participants also have access to mentors from SCORE, a service of the Small Business Administration, from whom they will receive support and guidance.

“We are very impressed with this year’s cohort,” said Karen Pelletier, vice president of operations and director of education and workforce development for the Chamber. “Startup Worcester helps those companies which have already chosen Worcester as their home grow into strong, sustainable brands and promotes the city’s resources and business culture to individuals considering entrepreneurship.”

Each StartUp Worcester membership is valued at more than $1,500. This year-long program is generously sponsored by Commerce Bank, Iandoli Desai & Cronin P.C. Attorneys at Law, BBB of Central Mass, and MassTech Collaborative.

StartUp Worcester is an initiative of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, The Venture Forum, and Worcester CleanTech Incubator to launch and to provide support as well as space for the region’s young entrepreneurs. The program helps incubate new businesses and retain graduates of the area’s college and universities. StartUp Worcester encourages these individuals to grow their business here – where they have access to everything they need to succeed.

A reception for the winners will be held on Thursday, May 2 at the Worcester Clean Tech Incubator at 44 Portland Street on the 4th floor from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Additional information about each company will be available at this free event. Members of the media are encouraged to attend. Please RSVP to Vaske Gjino for more information.

Startup Worcester alumni include Petricore Games ’16 which is now operating out of the Colleen C. Barrett Center for Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship and employs six people; Slydde ’16 which was acquired by New York-based company Hooch; Aaron Birt ’15 who was named a Top 30 Under 30 by Forbes in 2017; and HydroGlyde Coatings ’17 which received more than $500,000 in funding from the Gates Foundation, NIH and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. The Learning Hub ’16 was named HulaFrog’s most loved STEM program in 2017 and its founder, Giselle Rivera-Flores, was named one of WBJ’s 40 Under 40 in 2017.

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce is the lead organization for economic development serving the region’s business community. The Chamber represents 2,200 members from all industries and of all sizes located in a service area of 35 cities and towns and other communities in Central Mass. and beyond. Worcester’s affiliate Chambers of Commerce are Auburn, Blackstone Valley, Central Mass. South, Wachusett Area, and Webster Dudley Oxford.