Cabarrus Center Spark Grant Celebration

Cabarrus Center Spark Grant Celebration

We invite you to join us for a community celebration and pitch presentation by the four companies selected to win the first round of $5,000 Spark Grants. Please join us Thursday, May 6th from 4-6pm. 

With the support of the Flywheel Foundation, the Cabarrus Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship just wrapped up its first grant cycle of $5,000 Spark Grants offered to entrepreneurs located in or adding jobs to the county. The grants will help Founders test out ideas that can be commercialized successfully.

Over 21 companies applied and all will continue to benefit from the Cabarrus Center resources, coaching and curriculum. Two companies finished as runner-up and are still competing for the remaining grant funds. The Flywheel Foundation is allocating $25,000 from a Truist Bank corporate sponsorship to fund the first cohort of grant awards.

2021 Spark Grant Recipients:

Battery Xchange | Founders: Aubrey Yeboah and Desmond Wiggan

Battery X change has designed an eco-friendly charging kiosk that acts as a rental-on-demand charger station where patrons can check out the portable charger for their mobile electronic devices that patrons can utilize on the go convenience using our mobile application. Their solution also allows businesses to interact and engage with their customers using our digital screens.

Cellular Farms | Founders: Arash Amini and Steven Lewis

Cellular Farms is developing a bio manufacturing vertical farm to produce plant extracts for the food and beverage industry at the NCRC Food Innovation lab and will be HQ’d at the Cabarrus Center

Groopwork | Founder: Adrian Marable

Groopwork is building a platform for cohort based study groups for professional development certification. The GroopED program places like-minded people into study accountability cohorts of 3-5 people, provides them the study plan, workbooks, and virtual learning community to group study with one another, and hold one another accountable for a unique learning experience.

SERV | Founder: La Tika Mercer

SERV is an incubator shared space concept for entrepreneurs wanting to enter the stylist industry. She wants to begin to scale her successful concept in Charlotte to Cabarrus County. Her focus is on educating the Youth in the Black/ BIPPOC community on how to conduct themselves in business by providing the tools to become business owners through coaching, shadowing, seminars, hands-on learning and exposure to proven systems; touring successful business/work environments. Seminars and classes promote a positive mindset, encouraging good daily habits and life skills, finances/budgeting, respect and decorum, goal setting and focused learning for successful outcomes.

This is a live event stream virtually. Once you register for a ticket you will be provided a Zoom link to attend the event.