Build in Tulsa

Name

Build in Tulsa

Legal name

Build In Tulsa, Inc.

Website

https://buildintulsa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Support and Accelerator Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB), Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship accelerator programs
• Non-dilutive business funding
• Business coaching services
• Underrepresented founder support
• Pitch competition events

Headquarters

HQ city

Tulsa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Non-Dilutive Business Awards: Build in Tulsa provides non-dilutive funding awards to entrepreneurs through programs like W.E. Build ($25,000), Female Founders Pitch Night (up to $10,000), Product Pitch Night (up to $20,000), and 1921 Awards ($1,921-$3,842). These are grants, not equity investments.
2. Donations and Philanthropic Funding: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Build in Tulsa relies on donations, foundation grants, and corporate sponsorships to fund operations and programs. They partner with organizations like Goldman Sachs (One Million Black Women), Target, and 1921 Sankofa Fund.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Build in Tulsa is a nonprofit entrepreneurial support organization that runs accelerator programs, pitch competitions, readiness workshops, and youth entrepreneurship camps for underrepresented founders (especially Black entrepreneurs and women) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It provides free programming paired with non-dilutive cash awards ranging from $1,000 to $25,000, plus business coaching, coworking space, and investor introductions. Programs include W.E. Build, Blueprint: Tulsa, BUILD UP Tech, BUILD UP CPG, Female Founders Pitch Night, Product Pitch Night, and the 1921 Awards.

Product overview

Build in Tulsa is not a technology product company but an entrepreneurial accelerator and support organization that provides a portfolio of programs and services to help overlooked founders build and scale businesses. The core offerings include: W.E. Build (a holistic accelerator for women entrepreneurs offering $25,000 non-dilutive awards and 3 months of training); Blueprint: Tulsa (a 10-week pre-MVP program with $10K funding); BUILD UP Tech and BUILD UP CPG (4-week readiness programs for early-stage founders); pitch competitions (Female Founders Pitch Night and Product Pitch Night with cash awards up to $18,500); the 1921 Awards recognizing Black Wall Street legacy entrepreneurs; Future CEO Camp (youth entrepreneurship camp); and support services including business coaching, coworking space, and the Build Venture Summit investor event. The organization also operates the First Friday Founders Market vendor program. These programs collectively provide entrepreneurs with network access, mentoring, education, and direct financial assistance to build community and strategic partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• W.E. Build: Women Entrepreneurs Build - a holistic business accelerator designed to level the playing field for women with limited access to resources and funding.
• 1921 Awards
• Blueprint: Tulsa
• BUILD UP Tech
• BUILD UP CPG
• Product Pitch Night
• Female Founders Pitch Night
• Future CEO Camp
• BiT Blog

Products and services

• W.E. Build A holistic business accelerator for women entrepreneurs with limited access to resources and funding. Provides a $25,000 non-dilutive business award, 3 months of business training, networking and mentorship opportunities, free legal and accounting services, coworking space, laptops, financial education, and cost-of-living stipends. Powered by Goldman Sachs' One Million Black Women Initiative.
• Blueprint: Tulsa A 10-week program for overlooked, early-stage, Tulsa and Southern-based founders working on launching tech-enabled solutions. Provides $10K in non-dilutive funding for pre-MVP founders developing functional prototypes. Delivered in partnership with Visible Hands.
• 1921 Awards An award program celebrating Tulsans who embody the spirit of Black Wall Street, providing $1,921 to eight entrepreneurs (doubled to $3,842 in partnership with 1921 Sankofa Fund). Honors native and long-term Tulsans with for-profit businesses in operation for 3+ years.
• BUILD UP Tech A hands-on, readiness-focused four-week program for very early-stage tech founders wanting to move from idea to validated concept. Helps founders develop clickable prototypes or MVP plans using modern tools including AI.
• BUILD UP CPG A hands-on readiness and validation program for early-stage consumer product founders who want to test demand, clarify their buyer, and build a strong product concept before spending money on production.
• Female Founders Pitch Night A six-week, cohort-based training and coaching program for 7-9 Tulsa-based female-identifying founders with tech products. Participants receive workshops, 1:1 coaching, and pitch rehearsals culminating in a live pitch night competition for up to $10,000 in non-dilutive awards.
• Product Pitch Night A pitch competition for early-stage product entrepreneurs developing manufacturable products. Over an 8-week sprint, selected founders work with experts to refine go-to-market plans, financial forecasts, and product development strategies, culminating in awards up to $18,500.
• First Friday Founders Market A program for entrepreneurs eager to present their products, engage with fellow innovators, and explore collaboration opportunities. Accepted entrepreneurs receive free vending space during First Friday events in downtown Tulsa.
• Future CEO Camp An immersive week-long summer camp for aspiring entrepreneurs ages 11-19. Campers build skills in wealth creation, financial literacy, and social entrepreneurship while learning business fundamentals.
• Business Coaching One-on-one coaching with an in-house expert providing hands-on training, business advice, and access to business tracking tools. Includes 3 months of free coaching and access to Build in Tulsa's coworking space.
• Coworking A free workspace for Build in Tulsa alumni and emerging entrepreneurs featuring flexible meeting rooms, event space, fireside chats, socials, workshops, and office hours with staff and ecosystem partners.
• Build Venture Summit The premier investor event shaping the future of equitable wealth in America, bringing emerging talent in venture capital from across America to Tulsa.

Quantifiable outcome

• $10.5 million invested in network since 2021
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and major.

• Fulton Street Books & CoffeeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Community partner for the Hustle Fund Batter Up Pitch Event at MidCon VC Summit.
• LAMIK BeautyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Kim Roxie, Founder & CEO of LAMIK Beauty, served as a judge for Product Pitch Night 2024. She represents the beauty/entrepreneur ecosystem.
• ACT HousecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT House is a partner accelerator program that referrals flow to and from. Build in Tulsa founders like Edna Martinson (Boddle) and Brooke Hill (Swella) came up through ACT House. ACT House CEO Dominick Ard'is judges Build in Tulsa pitch competitions.
• TechstarscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuild in Tulsa hosts a Techstars accelerator program. The Build in Tulsa Techstars Summer '25 Demo Day marked the culmination of a 13-week accelerator for high-growth startups led by overlooked founders.
• Lightship FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLightship is a partner accelerator. Co-founders of ed-tech startup Boddle completed ACT Tulsa, then received investment from Lightship after Build in Tulsa programming.
• Visible HandscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlueprint: Tulsa is a 10-week program for early-stage founders, delivered in partnership with Visible Hands. This program provides $10K in non-dilutive funding for pre-MVP founders.
• Black Wall Street Chamber of CommercemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuild in Tulsa partners with the Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce for the Entrepreneur Community Resource Fair and other community programming.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ACT House: ACT House is a Tulsa-based accelerator for overlooked founders, and a direct Build in Tulsa partner. Both organizations run cohort-based accelerators in Tulsa serving Black and underrepresented founders, with mutual referral pipelines and shared pitch competition judges.
• Visible Hands: Visible Hands is a venture fund and accelerator backing underrepresented founders. It co-delivers Build in Tulsa's Blueprint: Tulsa program and operates a structurally similar model combining non-dilutive funding, accelerator cohorts, and an investor network.
• Lightship Foundation: Lightship is an Oklahoma-rooted nonprofit accelerator investing in overlooked founders. As a Build in Tulsa partner, Lightship has invested in ACT House / Build in Tulsa alumni (e.g., Boddle), and operates a similar nonprofit, cohort-based, non-dilutive model.
• Black Girl Ventures: Black Girl Ventures runs pitch competitions and accelerator programming specifically for Black and Brown women founders. It overlaps directly with Build in Tulsa's W.E. Build and Female Founders Pitch Night in target demographic, non-dilutive model, and pitch-night format.
• Backstage Capital: Backstage Capital is a venture fund and accelerator for underrepresented founders (with strong focus on women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ founders). It overlaps with Build in Tulsa's mission of redirecting capital to founders historically excluded from VC.
• New Voices Foundation: New Voices Foundation supports women of color entrepreneurs through pitch competitions, training, and capital. It closely matches Build in Tulsa's W.E. Build and Female Founders Pitch Night in target demographic, pitch-competition format, and non-dilutive funding approach.

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Techstars is a global accelerator operator. Build in Tulsa hosts a Techstars accelerator (Techstars Summer '25 Demo Day) and both serve early-stage founders; however, Techstars is equity-funded and significantly larger, serving as a broader incumbent in the accelerator category.
• gener8tor: gener8tor runs accelerator programs and venture funds nationwide for early-stage startups. It is a broader incumbent that overlaps with Build in Tulsa's accelerator model, but operates at national scale and takes equity rather than running a non-dilutive model.
• Echoing Green: Echoing Green is a global nonprofit that identifies and invests in emerging social-impact leaders. It is a broader incumbent in the social-enterprise accelerator space, with overlapping programming for founders addressing racial and economic equity.

Regional players

• Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce: The Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce in Tulsa is a strategic Build in Tulsa partner (Entrepreneur Community Resource Fair) and serves Black entrepreneurs in the same Tulsa market. It is a regional peer that overlaps in mission and geography but focuses more on Chamber / advocacy functions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/buildintulsa
• Xx.com/buildintulsa
• Facebookfacebook.com/buildintulsa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/build-in-tulsa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Build in Tulsa