Welcome to the Pipeline, St. Louis.
The Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship, which began in Kansas City, has announced that St. Louis is now officially part of the region from which any entrepreneur can apply to become a Pipeline Fellow.
St. Louis will host one of Pipeline’s quarterly modules, which typically draw more than a hundred regional small business people and nationally recognized experts to convene and discuss their enterprises. The modules also afford the opportunity to mingle with the greater entrepreneurial community at networking events.
The initial founders that helped to bring Pipeline to St. Louis are Washington University in St. Louis, David Karandish of Answers, Stephanie Leffler and Ryan Noble of CrowdSource and integrated communication firm Elasticity. With St. Louis and its Pipeline founders on board, the Pipeline region will now include Kansas, Nebraska, the Kansas City area and St. Louis.
“Pipeline is a great complement to the tremendous programs already offered in St. Louis,” said Dedric Carter, associate provost and associate vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship at Washington University, in a release. “To connect our rising entrepreneurial stars with others in the Midwest—and across the nation—for continued growth is an effort we are proud to help catalyze here.”
Washington University’s Skandalaris Center has collaborated with Pipeline on a pilot version of the program in St. Louis. It was open only to entrepreneurs with ties to the university.
“I was fortunate enough to join the Pipeline Fellowship three years ago because of my affiliation with Washington University,” said Matthew MacEwan, president of Acera Surgical. “It was the most compelling growth year of my career, and I have been working to help bring this opportunity to the rest of St. Louis ever since. I am beyond excited the day has come.”
Since Pipeline’s founding as a nonprofit organization in 2006, it has built an influential association of entrepreneurial leaders who work together to mentor the next generation of business leaders.
“Pipeline is the next evolution in our growing entrepreneurial ecosystem here in St. Louis,” said Brian Cross, co-founder of Elasticity. “Focusing on top-tier innovators that can have multiple contributions to our region is really going to have a major impact. We’re excited to play a role in the excitement.”
The Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship is currently recruiting its ninth class of Fellows. The application deadline is Oct. 21. For more information, go to www.pipelineentrepreneurs.com/apply.
