Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s STACHE Investment Fund is behind a new business accelerator and apprenticeship program announced Wednesday in downtown Jacksonville.
The program, called KYN, is a partnership with the University of North Florida and a spinoff of Jacksonville’s One Spark Festival. The four companies that will go through the program are creators from this year’s festival.
One Spark co-founder Elton Rivas is also one of the people behind the new initiative. He said the latest announcement is a sign that One Spark and Jacksonville are going in the right direction.
"We talked about at One Spark if we can get to a place where great ideas get the resources they need — and capital resources — then that’s going to be a success on going for our community and the event itself," he said.
Companies will complete a 16-week program at KYN, and then have an opportunity to pitch their idea to venture capitalists. Through the partnership with UNF, students will get training in design and development.
STACHE Investment Corp. has committed to providing up to $1 million again in 2014 for creators from the second One Spark festival.
The companies that participated in One Spark and are receiving funding at this time are:
- Heritage Farms
- Pure Treats
- Floppy Entertainment
- Original Fuzz
- Hatchware
You can follow Karen Feagins on Twitter @karenfeagins.
