SOUTH BEND – ELKHART REGION (Aug. 26, 2020) — Yesterday, the South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership (Regional Partnership), the University of Notre Dame, and 17 other organizations across Indiana were awarded a total of $164,000 in grants from Elevate Nexus. These funds are earmarked towards entrepreneurship programming to help build on existing successes.

Elevate Nexus, an initiative of Elevate Ventures that launched in 2019, partners with higher-education institutions and nonprofit organizations to organize pitch competitions in which entrepreneurs compete for startup funding. The grants to supporting organizations represent 10% of the total $1,640,000 in startup investment achieved through the organizations’ efforts.

Nominated by regional startup Viewtique as an impactful organization, the Regional Partnership will use this grant to support the work of Startup South Bend – Elkhart (Startup SBE), an initiative of the Regional Partnership. Established in 2016, with a mission to promote and foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the South Bend – Elkhart region, Startup SBE works to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit and culture in the regional community, identify and nurture new business startups, and support the growth of existing innovation-led businesses.

“The South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership is honored to be the recipient of this grant but even more grateful to be viewed as an impactful organization by a successful regional startup like Viewtique,” said South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership President and CEO, Regina Emberton. “The support and collaboration of organizations like Elevate Ventures enables us to continue working towards our goal of launching 200 innovation-led startups by 2025.”

Earlier this year, five Startup SBE affiliated companies; Digital Leader Academy, Lumen Bio LLC, ProstheTech, Viewtique, and CODEinCLASS were awarded a total of $160,000 in pre-seed and seed funding by Elevate Ventures during the Elevate Nexus Regional Pitch Competitions. In May, the five companies and 24 additional finalists competed in the inaugural Elevate Nexus Statewide Pitch Competition where Lumen Bio LLC received an additional $40,000 in pre-seed investment.

Last month, the South Bend – Elkhart region was also named the Elevate Ventures “Region of the Year” for the second year in a row, an award which recognizes the region with the highest number of Elevate Ventures deals (21 Fund and Indiana Angel Network Fund only) per capita from January 1 to December 31, 2019.

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About Startup South Bend – Elkhart
The mission of Startup South Bend – Elkhart, a non-profit initiative of the South Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership is to promote and foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the South Bend – Elkhart region. Startup South Bend – Elkhart works to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit and culture in the regional community, identify and nurture new business startups, and support the growth of existing high potential businesses. For more information about Startup South Bend – Elkhart, visit StartupSouthBendElkhart.com.

About South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership
The South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership is a collaboration of the economic development partners from 47 smart connected communities in Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan. The Regional Partnership focuses on a long-term systemic approach to advance the region’s economy by aligning the efforts of various stakeholders around five key areas: Educating a world-class WORKFORCE, Recruiting and retaining great TALENT, Attracting and growing new economy companies in complement to our remarkably strong manufacturing INDUSTRIES, Promoting INCLUSION and sparking opportunities for minorities and Helping ENTREPRENEURS thrive. The Regional Partnership seeks to unify and collaborate so that together, the communities across the region to work together to achieve what cannot be done individually. For more information about the Regional Partnership, visit SouthBendElkhart.org.

Media Contact
Regina Emberton
South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership
remberton@southbendelkhart.org
574.344.4686