Growth Factory Accelerator
Building great startups together.
WHO WE ARE
Entrepreneurs Helping Entrepreneurs
The Growth Factory is a nonprofit pre-seed accelerator and accompanying venture fund on a mission to scale truly great companies in the Greater Sacramento region.

FOUNDER
Get the Support You Need to Succeed
The Growth Factory is designed for highly motivated, action-oriented founders from the Greater Sacramento region who are in the early stages of building venture backable companies and want to learn and grow alongside other driven entrepreneurs.
If you have a product with value that customers can’t ignore, are pre or early revenue, and are committed to creating a world class company, then we want to meet you!

The Growth Factory Accelerator
Our goal is to help founders rapidly move from MVP to product market fit positioning them to raise funds and achieve revenue of $1M in ARR within 18 months.
Founders apply to be accepted into a small cohort of startups that receive 12 months of structured support. Each startup begins by creating a customized action plan.
Workshops, founder forums, and office hours accelerate learning, connect founders with experts and resources, and provide community. Founders may also participate in curated local pilot projects to support in testing their hypothesis, developing case studies and building relationships with potential customers.
The Growth Factory is a proud member of Morrow, a global community of venture builders.
Through this network, we are able to provide access to resources such as $1M in perks, founder wellness support, industry specific mentors, and global hot desk spaces for teams to drop in and work while travelling.
Applications are now open for our 2023 Cohort.
Accelerator Components
Market Acceleration
We help founders:
- Rapidly test and validate product-market fit.
- Build a go-to-market strategy and execute.
- Identify and facilitate local pilot projects to help optimize solutions.
- Demonstrate early traction.
- Build case studies to attract additional funding and customers.
Get Fundable
With an understanding of the time and energy it takes to raise funds while building a company, we work with founders to:
- Proactively develop a strategy and execution plan.
- Provide the tools and assets needed to accomplish their fundraising goals faster and more effectively.
Founder to CEO
We meet founders who are incredibly talented and passionate people but they’ve never been a CEO before. In this program:
- We activate a talented team of experts and experienced entrepreneurs to mentor founders on their journey to becoming the CEO of a scalable high growth company.
WHY WE DO IT
Entrepreneurs are the Life-Blood of a Thriving Economy.
What started as a slogan has turned into our driving philosophy. The Backyard Advantage™️ forges impactful relationships within the Sacramento community, bringing people together to achieve the extraordinary.
With a “Dream Team” of mentors, investors, mission-critical partners, and experienced entrepreneurs from the Greater Sacramento community, success thrives on locals coming together.

Investor
Now is the Time to Invest
The Growth Factory design is based on a model that has effectively transformed communities and economies in other regions of our country by combining the principles of (private) venture capital and (non-profit) capacity building and economic development to help entrepreneurs start and grow companies.
While our efforts are focused on producing successful companies that provide a return on investment, we strongly believe in delivering a return on involvement to all of our partners, investors, mentors and founders as well. What does this mean? It means that our collective involvement contributes to building a culture of innovation, developing entrepreneurial minded leaders that serve our community in many ways, and creating an economic engine that fuels opportunities for a wide diversity of founders. Much more than a few successful companies – this work can produce a vibrant, sustainable and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Mentor
Start Sharing Your Expertise With the Entrepreneurs Who Need It
One of the greatest gifts to give is knowledge.
With your experience in the world of business, you’d be an invaluable asset to tomorrow’s most successful startups. By becoming a Growth Factory mentor, you’ll be able to share your insights with new entrepreneurs and help them thrive.
Join our Dream Team and get access to the most promising startups in the Sacramento region.
