The Genesis Block Back on the Block Minority Accelerator is designed to provide entrepreneurs and business owners with the knowledge, skills and strategy they need to strengthen their venture. We graduated our first cohort of entrepreneurs (Team Tsunami) in May 2021 and were faced with an Imposing Question... What’s Next?
 
Based on our research and feedback from other companies that support startups, we found that rushing into capital rounds without an effective business strategy is the biggest challenge faced by cohort companies. Many companies struggle at this stage due to lack of education on fundraising and challenges with navigating the investor-founder relationship.
 
At Genesis Block, we are building a model driven more on strategy refinement and product market design testing for our cohort companies and we are excited to see some of the initial successes.

Jones Sunset Sauce LLC

Tiffany Hansley Jones, was one of the most engaged founders in the Team Tsunami cohort. Her attention to detail and focus on executing her local distribution strategy have paid off. Jones Sunset Sauce is actively being distributed in 4 locations across the Cape Fear region, including Eagle Island Fruit & Seafood, with plans to be in 15-20 locations by the end of 2021.

Get That Deed LLC

Brenda Dixon was the winner of the 2021 Genesis Block Team Tsunami Demo Day Event. She won a team of business professionals, developers and entrepreneurs to help supplement her knowledge training with a viable business plan. Thanks to our amazing community of mentors and supporters, a team led by Wayne Hippo, Karl Ricanek and Albert Steed are helping to build a minimum viable product for an educational platform to support her work with first time homebuyers.

Poseidon Elite Athletics

Jermaine Kemp is the founder of Poseidon Elite Athletics, an elite youth training organization providing customized athletic training programs and mentoring for youth ages 6-18. When he joined the accelerator program back in January he had 8 clients. As of June 2021, he now has 51 clients. That is a 500% increase in clients and revenue which can be attributed to Jermaine’s integrity to the principles of entrepreneurship.

Jayski’s Rub A Dub LLC

Jayski’s Rub A Dub owners William and Shemeka Stokes have become a local favorite with their all purpose seasoning that elevates any dish. The company had the official product launch of their Meal Prep Service at Genesis Block and have developed a strategy to build a food brand with various channels to support the growth of their company.