CLLCTVE, founded by Kelsey Davis ’19 (Newhouse) G ’20 (Whitman) was selected for the Google for Startups Founders Academy, a nationwide six-month, equity free program designed to help promising founders and their startups grow revenues and obtain access to capital.
The Founders Academy will begin on March 3 and consist of hands-on workshops across a range of topics including customer acquisition and raising funds to scale. CLLCVTE, a platform for GenZ creators, is one of only 50 high potential startups that the Google for Startups team selected for the first nationwide cohort.
After finishing her graduate degree at Syracuse University in May 2020, Davis went on to the Techstars Los Angeles accelerator program to work on the startup she incubated at her campus Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars program. As a student founder, she was part of high growth programs such as the Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars Propel program and the LaunchPad Lift program.
Davis was also recently named to Forbes 30 Under 30, as well as Adweek’s 2020 list of Young Influentials Who Are Shaping Media, Marketing and Tech.
Prior to forming CLLCTVE, Kelsey produced digital content for brands like Coca Cola, Puma and Land Rover, as well as agencies such as Conde Nast Entertainment and Uniworld Group. Hailing from Atlanta, Davis has achieved national notoriety as a leading Gen ZEO.
The Google for Startup Founders Academy model was piloted in Atlanta last year with 45 Georgia based companies. “85 percent of participants from Google for Startups Founders Academy that we ran in Georgia reported that the program helped grow their startup, whether that be through job creation, fresh pathways to capital, new strategic partnerships, or increased brand and marketing exposure,” says Jewel Burks Solomon, Head of Google for Startups US. “By expanding the program nationally, we’re hopeful that we can continue to level the playing field for underrepresented founders and their startups, like CLLCTVE by connecting them to the best Google has to offer.”
“We’re excited to be selected for the Google for Startups Founders Academy,” said Davis. “We look forward to joining other Black, Latinx, and Veteran founders across the US who were selected for this highly selective program. We’re thrilled to be working with Googlers, industry experts and investors across a wide range of topics including sales, strategy, hiring and fundraising.”
Google for Startups works to level the playing field for startup founders and communities to succeed by bringing the best of Google’s products, connections, and best practices to startups. Paired with a deep commitment to create diverse startup communities, many of offerings are designed specifically to provide underrepresented founders with access to resources and opportunities.