Cloudport CoWorking puts $30K into innovation initiative
Courtesy / Mike Sobol
Mike Sobol is launching Venture Hall, a new startup and innovation initiative in Portland, along with Jess Knox of Maine Startup & Create Week.
Venture Hall, a new startup and innovation initiative in Portland, will get more than $30,000 of in-kind investment from boutique Cloudport CoWorking MultiSpace, Venture Hall co-founder Jess Knox told Mainebiz.
Knox, who also is behind Maine Startup & Create Week, said he is launching Venture Hall with another entrepreneur, Mike Sobol, whose LinkedIn profile lists him as “working on building out the infrastructure to support Maine’s startup ecosystem.”
Venture Hall, which will be a series of programs, events and classes focused on building high-growth or high-impact ventures, will reside inside Cloudport when both open in mid-August and host its events there. Cloudport is located in a former garage at the corner of Federal and India streets in Portland.
Cloudport typically charges $125 or $200 per month depending on amenities, though it’s also possible to rent space on a daily basis.
Venture Hall will be anchored by a three-month summer accelerator program. It will host its first group of companies in 2017 and include mentors and companies from all over the world. Also, programs on corporate innovation and building the best founding teams will be held along with classes, speakers and events focused on skills and strategies needed to build large-scale solutions to important problems, according to Knox.
Cloudport’s in-kind investment includes free office space, a number of memberships and use of its facility for events and trainings.
“This allows Venture Hall to be very nimble with our programs and have the flexibility to test many of our programs with substantially less capital,” Knox wrote in response to questions emailed by Mainebiz.
The majority of expenses are related to programs and instructors, Knox wrote, with expenses heavily weighted towards next summer’s group of companies. Expenses for the first 14 months will be around $500,000, Knox wrote.
Funding is a mix of bootstrapping and fundraising. Knox said conversations and commitments are ongoing with corporate partners, friends and family.
Venture Hall’s advisory board includes Betsy Peters (LightSail Education), Kerem Durdag (entrepreneur-in-residence, Maine Technology Institute), Don Gooding (Gooding Growth LLC), Emily Madero (acting CEO at IdeaVillage), Sean Marsh (Point Judith Partners), Austin Barrett (T3 Advisors), Vinko Buble (entrepreneur/software engineer) and Chuck Goldman (formerly of Apple).
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