Make Startups
Make Startups, Inc. is an Augusta, GA-based founder-controlled SaaS company providing AI-powered startup assessment, program management, and credentialing software to Entrepreneur Support Organizations, Economic Developers, and Funders via its CofounderOS platform and Archanic enterprise suite.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersAugusta, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Make Startups does
Make Startups, Inc. is a privately-held, founder-controlled technology company founded in 2012 and headquartered in Augusta, Georgia. The company develops CofounderOS, an AI-powered startup operating system designed for Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs), Economic Developers, and Funders. The platform automates impact tracking, streamlines program management, and prequalifies businesses using AI-driven scoring of business logic, founder-market fit, and commercial traction, combined with human validation for credentialing. Make Startups operates the Certificate of Entrepreneurship, the first and only WIOA-approved workforce training credential for entrepreneurial skills, currently eligible in six states and covering 75 learning objectives approved by finance industry leaders.
The company generates revenue through enterprise SaaS subscriptions for CofounderOS and Archanic (its enterprise Artificial Business Intelligence suite), both sold via quote-based pricing on multi-year contracts. A secondary revenue stream comes from licensing the Certificate of Entrepreneurship credentialing program through state and local workforce development boards under WIOA. Make Startups distributes its products primarily through direct enterprise sales targeting ESOs, economic developers, and funders, supplemented by the WIOA workforce development distribution channel. The company's go-to-market combines enterprise field sales with community-led growth, leveraging the National Industry Council of 30+ finance leaders for ecosystem validation.
The company was founded as an evolution from theClubhou.se, an Augusta-based coworking and innovation space launched in 2012. The company is bootstrapped with no institutional venture capital or private equity ownership documented. Its leadership team comprises three co-founders—Eric R. Parker (CEO), Grace A. Belangia (CMO/COO), and Eric Harrison (CTO)—supported by approximately five additional team members in development, marketing, and operations roles.
Make Startups firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Make Startups
- Legal name
- Make Startups, inc.
- Website
- https://makestartups.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Make Startups, Inc. is an Augusta, GA-based founder-controlled SaaS company providing AI-powered startup assessment, program management, and credentialing software to Entrepreneur Support Organizations, Economic Developers, and Funders via its CofounderOS platform and Archanic enterprise suite.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Make Startups industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Entrepreneurship Support Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC), Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)
Keywords
Where Make Startups is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Augusta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Make Startups business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- CofounderOS SaaS Platform: Subscription-based SaaS platform for ESOs, economic developers, and funders. Enterprise pricing for program management and impact tracking capabilities. Contact sales model suggests tiered enterprise pricing.
- Archanic Enterprise Solutions: On-premise or cloud-hosted enterprise ABI suite for large enterprises and Federal clients. Custom pricing based on business requirements and deployment model.
- Certificate of Entrepreneurship Credentialing: WIOA-approved entrepreneurial skills training program. Workforce development funding eligible in 6 states. Provides merit-based underwriting model to catalyze investment for economically disadvantaged groups.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise SaaS platform for ESOs and funders |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise ABI suite deployment |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Make Startups product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Make Startups builds and sells CofounderOS, an AI-powered startup operating system that helps Entrepreneur Support Organizations, Economic Developers, and Funders automate impact tracking, streamline program management, and prequalify businesses. Its complementary enterprise product Archanic extends the same patent-pending technology into a full Artificial Business Intelligence suite (CRM, HRIS, ATS, forecasting, workflow automation) for larger organizations and Federal clients. The company also delivers the WIOA-eligible Certificate of Entrepreneurship credentialing program through state workforce development boards.
Product overview
Make Startups offers a portfolio anchored by CofounderOS, an AI-powered startup operating system serving Entrepreneur Support Organizations, Economic Developers, and Funders. Archanic is the enterprise-grade ABI suite built on CofounderOS for larger organizations. The Certificate of Entrepreneurship is a WIOA-eligible credentialing program. These products work together to provide end-to-end support from startup assessment and mentoring through enterprise operations management.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- CofounderOS AI-powered startup operating system for Entrepreneur Support Organizations, Economic Developers, and Funders to automate impact tracking, streamline program management, prequalify businesses, and credential founders through AI scoring combined with human validation.
- Archanic Enterprise Artificial Business Intelligence (ABI) suite for on-premise or cloud-hosted deployment, offering CRM, HRIS, ATS, sales and expense forecasting, P&L generation, invoicing, dynamic workflow automation, and custom business applications for large enterprises and Federal clients.
- Certificate of Entrepreneurship Workforce-approved entrepreneurial skills training credential covering 75 learning objectives approved by finance industry leaders, supporting merit-based underwriting to catalyze investment for economically disadvantaged groups. WIOA eligible in 6 states (Georgia, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wisconsin).
Quantifiable outcome
- 2,000+ startups evaluated and mentored through the platform
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Make Startups
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Make Startups technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature5 records
Make Startups partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- theClubhou.secoreOriginal founding innovation and co-working space in Augusta, GA opened in 2012. Since its founding, has helped launch and grow over 2,000 startups. Serves as the operational origin and testbed for the CofounderOS platform and credentialing programs. Continues as a coworking space, makerspace, code school, startup accelerator, prototyping lab, mentorship network, and event organizer. Also serves as a model for rural, small, and mid-sized communities.
- National Industry CouncilcoreFirst industry council for entrepreneurship, organized and convened by founders Eric Parker and Grace Belangia with over 30 finance industry leaders. Provides industry validation for credentialing standards and 75 learning objectives. Supports merit-based underwriting model for investment catalysis.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Make Startups competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Visible.vc: Visible.vc provides cap table management, investor updates, and reporting for startups and their backers. It is comparable to Make Startups in that both sit in the startup/funder software stack and help founders demonstrate progress and investment readiness to funders.
- Gust: Gust operates a global platform for startup fundraising and investor management, serving accelerators, angel investors, and entrepreneurs with tools for deal flow and investment administration. It is comparable to Make Startups in that both target the entrepreneur support and investor ecosystem with software for managing funding programs and prequalifying startups.
- Dealroom: Dealroom provides startup, investor, and ecosystem intelligence with data on funding rounds, founders, and accelerator outcomes. It is comparable to Make Startups in that both serve economic developers, funders, and accelerators with data and tooling to evaluate startups and track ecosystem impact.
- F6S: F6S is a startup ecosystem platform connecting founders with accelerators, programs, investors, and talent. It is comparable to Make Startups in that both serve accelerators and ESOs as core customers and provide program management and founder assessment functionality.
- Submittable: Submittable provides application and review workflow software used by grants, awards, and accelerator programs to manage submissions and reviewer scoring. It is comparable to Make Startups in that both automate application assessment, reviewer workflows, and impact reporting for programs that evaluate and credential founders.
- Foundersuite: Foundersuite provides fundraising pipeline, investor CRM, and due diligence tools for startups and the investors/funders that back them. It is comparable to Make Startups in that both serve the founder-funder relationship with software that supports prequalification and capital-raising workflows.
Emerging players
- Startup Genome: Startup Genome is a startup ecosystem research and policy organization that produces the Global Startup Ecosystem Report and works with economic developers and governments. It is comparable to Make Startups in that both serve economic developers and ESOs with insights and tooling for ecosystem building, though Startup Genome leans on research and policy rather than AI-driven program management.
Broad incumbents
- PitchBook: PitchBook provides private market intelligence on companies, investors, deals, and funds, widely used by VCs, funders, and economic developers. It is comparable to Make Startups in that funders use it to prequalify deals and track ecosystem activity, though it focuses on data rather than program management and credentialing.
- Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent): Wellfound operates a startup-investor matching platform and broader founder-talent marketplace as part of AngelList. It is comparable to Make Startups as a broader incumbent in the startup-investor ecosystem with overlapping capabilities in founder prequalification and funding workflows, though it does not specialize in ESO program management.
- Crunchbase: Crunchbase is a broad business information platform covering private and public companies, funding rounds, and investors. It is comparable to Make Startups in that funders and economic developers use it to evaluate startups and ecosystem activity, serving as a complementary data layer rather than a direct program-management competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Make Startups social profiles
Digital presenceMake Startups financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Make Startups leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Make Startups subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Make Startups funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Make Startups M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Make Startups
What does Make Startups do?
Make Startups builds and sells CofounderOS, an AI-powered startup operating system that helps Entrepreneur Support Organizations, Economic Developers, and Funders automate impact tracking, streamline program management, and prequalify businesses. Its complementary enterprise product Archanic extends the same patent-pending technology into a full Artificial Business Intelligence suite (CRM, HRIS, ATS, forecasting, workflow automation) for larger organizations and Federal clients. The company also delivers the WIOA-eligible Certificate of Entrepreneurship credentialing program through state workforce development boards.
Is Make Startups a public or private company?
Make Startups is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Make Startups founded?
Make Startups was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Make Startups based?
Make Startups is headquartered in Augusta, United States, in the North America region.
How does Make Startups make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. CofounderOS SaaS Platform is the primary driver. The others are archanic Enterprise Solutions and certificate of Entrepreneurship Credentialing.
Who are Make Startups's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Visible.vc, Gust, Dealroom, F6S, Submittable and Foundersuite. Startup Genome is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are PitchBook, Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent) and Crunchbase.
Does Make Startups have an API?
No public API is recorded for Make Startups.
What industry is Make Startups in?
Make Startups's product category is Entrepreneurship Support Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAM, Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated), with a secondary code of EDAMAHAA, Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.