December is a perfect time reflect, especially in the last week of the year when lots of folks are taking time off and it’s easier to find time to think. For me, reflecting includes reviewing my monthly stakeholder updates from the previous year, taking stock of the big wins and getting motivated for the upcoming year. My big takeaway: The Mill and our startups have accomplished a lot. Our staff and the companies we help are extraordinary hard workers. I’m proud to lead this group of folks as we help bring Bloomington into the new economy. They’re smart folks who are doing cool, interesting things and I hope the list below makes you agree.
January
February
- MetroStar announced they’re adding 100 jobs
- Cook had a (near) billion-dollar exit
- Flywheel Fund II invested in women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) at 10 times the national averages
- Hit $1 million fundraising goal for Flywheel Fund III
March
April
- 8 Mill/Flywheel/Crossroads companies were nominated for a Mira award from TechPoint
- Applications for Crossroads Collegiate were up 50%
- Hosted ROI’s inaugural expo for high school student-run businesses
May
June
- Kupros moved to Bloomington
- With the Boys & Girls Club, we improved 2021’s Lemonade Day metrics by 3 times
- Completed third cohort of gBETA, a pre-accelerator for near-revenue startups
July
- Renewed Velocities, our $2.5 million partnership with Columbus and Elevate Ventures to provide resources and support to entrepreneurs and early-stage companies
- Flywheel Fund hired its first full-time employee, a venture analyst
- Women & BIPOC scholarship fund hit capacity for 2022
August
- Bloomington employees won 10% of TechPoint’s Tech 25 awards
- Mill-affiliated startups comprised 25% of pitches at Innovation Showcase
- Bloomington was named the #15 best startup city in the Midwest and #2 in Indiana
- High schoolers will receive dual credit for Ivy Tech entrepreneurial classes
September
- Folia won Startup of the Year
- Atlas was accepted into gener8tor, a nationwide accelerator
- 80% of the state winners at Kinetic had participated in Crossroads
October
November
- We moved 24 folks to Bloomington, averaging 1-3 per month
- The economic impact will be $2 million annually from this cohort
- 80% of capital for Flyweel Fund III is still being deployed
- We invested about $850,000 into 16 companies
- Half those investments are in Bloomington.
Pat East is executive director of The Mill, a nonprofit entrepreneurship center on a mission to launch and accelerate startups, and ultimately to become Indiana’s center of gravity for entrepreneurship.
