Mortar

What Mortar does

Mortar (MORTAR) is a Cincinnati-based 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in 2014 that operates an entrepreneurship support platform targeted at historically marginalized entrepreneurs — primarily Black women (76% of alumni), as well as other minority and women-owned businesses facing systemic barriers to capital, education, and mentorship. Its core product is the MORTAR Entrepreneurship Academy, a 15-week intensive course built on the proprietary MASTERS curriculum, delivered in cohorts of 15-20 participants four times per year at a subsidized tuition of $295 (true cost $4,000-$4,500). Post-graduation, alumni enter an 18-month MORTAR Alumni Program (MAP) providing consulting, coaching, and peer mentorship.

Mortar extends beyond education into capital deployment via the Iron Chest Fund, which has placed $1,073,471.94 into alumni hands through grants, loans, and prize money, sourced through partnerships with Common Future, IKEA, Verizon, and the City of Cincinnati. The organization also operates The MORTAR Building (a renovated 1912 facility in Walnut Hills), the BRICK Pop-Up Shop retail program, and coworking and event space rentals. Revenue is diversified across heavily subsidized program tuition, coworking/event space fees, and a broad base of donations, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants (Greater Cincinnati Foundation, LISC, Kroger, P&G, United Way, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation).

The business model is community-led growth: Mortar recruits through 40+ partner organizations (United Way, SBA, Xavier University, SCORE, AfroAmerican Chamber), word-of-mouth in underrepresented communities, and runs place-based programs in 12 U.S. cities with a stated goal of reaching 15 cities by 2027. Mortar is not a technology company; it has no app, no API, no proprietary software, and no AI components — its product is human-delivered education, mentorship, capital intermediation, and physical community infrastructure.

Name

Mortar

Legal name

MORTAR

Website

https://wearemortar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mortar is a Cincinnati-based 501c3 nonprofit founded in 2014 that runs a 15-week Entrepreneurship Academy plus 18 months of alumni support and capital access for historically marginalized entrepreneurs, primarily Black women, operating in 12 U.S. cities with over 500 alumni.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Education and Small Business Incubation

NAICS

Business and Secretarial Schools (61141)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Small business incubation
• Minority business support
• Coworking space rental
• Community development services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Program Tuition: The 15-week Entrepreneurship Academy costs $295 per participant, heavily subsidized through grants and contributions (actual cost would be $4,000-$4,500 per participant). A $50 deposit is required upon acceptance.
2. Iron Chest Fund Distributions: Over $1 million has been distributed directly to alumni entrepreneurs in the form of prize money, loans, and grants including $10,000 in emergency COVID-19 grants. The fund provides capital access to graduates.
3. Donations and Grants: As a 501c3 nonprofit organization, MORTAR receives donations, corporate sponsorships, and grants to subsidize program costs and operations.
4. Coworking Memberships: The MORTAR Building offers coworking memberships with various tiers including hot desk, dedicated desk, and private office options. Also generates revenue through event space rentals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mortar operates a 15-week Entrepreneurship Academy that teaches business fundamentals to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, supported by a proprietary MASTERS curriculum and an 18-month post-graduation Alumni Program offering mentorship, consulting, and capital access. It supplements these programs with the Iron Chest Fund (over $1 million in grants, loans, and prize money distributed to alumni), a coworking and event venue (The MORTAR Building), and a retail pop-up shop (BRICK) that provides physical sales channels for alumni businesses.

Product overview

MORTAR is a nonprofit entrepreneurship hub offering a portfolio of programs and physical spaces for urban entrepreneurs. The core offering is the MORTAR Entrepreneurship Academy, a 15-week course using the proprietary MASTERS curriculum. Post-graduation, alumni receive 18 months of support through the MORTAR Alumni Program (MAP) with consulting, mentorship, and capital access. The Iron Chest Fund provides over $1 million in grants, loans, and prize money to graduates. The organization also operates The MORTAR Building (a coworking and event space) and BRICK Pop-Up Shop (retail space for alumni products).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Iron Chest Fund: A fund providing underwritten access to funding (grants, loans, and prize money) to MORTAR alumni entrepreneurs to help them pursue their business dreams.
• MORTAR Entrepreneurship Academy
• Brick Pop Up Shop
• The MORTAR Building

Products and services

• MORTAR Entrepreneurship Academy A 15-week intensive entrepreneurship course for aspiring and existing business owners featuring the MASTERS curriculum, weekly mentor meetings, guest speakers, and pitch preparation; designed for historically marginalized entrepreneurs.
• Iron Chest Fund A capital access program providing grants, loans, and prize money to MORTAR alumni entrepreneurs; over $1 million has been placed directly into alumni hands for cash flow, purchase orders, equipment, facility updates, and scaling.
• The MORTAR Building (Coworking and Event Space) A physical entrepreneurial hub in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati offering hot desk, dedicated desk, and private office coworking memberships, plus hourly event space rentals across multiple rooms, with discounted rates for nonprofits, Walnut Hills residents, and MORTAR alumni.
• BRICK Pop-Up Shop A physical and online retail boutique offering branded apparel, home goods, and alumni products; provides pop-up retail opportunities for alumni entrepreneurs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 alumni entrepreneurs operating businesses across multiple industries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 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 core and supporting.

• University of Cincinnati Law SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides pro-bono legal services to MORTAR alumni for business formation, contracts, and legal protection needs.
• Xavier University Business SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides business education resources, student volunteers, and professional development connections for alumni.
• SCOREcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides business mentoring and expertise to MORTAR alumni through volunteer business mentors.
• Crowd or Camera Communications ConsultingsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerProvides communications and PR training for alumni businesses.
• ProvidomsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides personal and financial literacy services to alumni.
• The Porter House KCsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerKansas City co-working community providing entrepreneurship access and resources to underserved populations through MORTAR programming.
• Xavier UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner providing business school resources, student engagement, and professional network connections.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kiva: A nonprofit crowdfunding platform offering 0% interest loans to underserved entrepreneurs globally - functionally comparable to MORTAR's Iron Chest Fund as an alternative-capital channel for founders outside traditional banking.
• Accion: A global nonprofit microlender and small-business support organization offering capital, coaching, and education to underserved SMB owners - comparable end-user (marginalized entrepreneurs) and overlap with MORTAR's Iron Chest capital-plus-education offering.
• SCORE: A nonprofit network of volunteer business mentors providing free mentoring and education to small business owners nationwide - a direct functional peer to MORTAR (in fact, SCORE is also an MORTAR partner). They share the underserved-SMB support mission, but SCORE operates at national scale and is mentoring-led rather than curriculum-led.
• Common Future: A nonprofit accelerating economic opportunity for BIPOC entrepreneurs via capital (Community Credit Lab) and ecosystem support - a current MORTAR partner and direct functional peer on the 'capital + community' model.
• Village Capital: A nonprofit venture support organization running peer-selected cohorts and entrepreneurship programs, particularly for impact-oriented and underrepresented founders - a strong functional peer to MORTAR's incubator-style cohort model.
• Grameen America: A nonprofit microfinance organization providing small-dollar loans, business training, and peer support to low-income women entrepreneurs - directly comparable to MORTAR's mission of capital access plus education for historically marginalized founders.
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): A major community-development financial institution providing grants, loans, and capacity-building to underserved small businesses and nonprofits - a current MORTAR funder/partner and direct peer on minority-SMB capital deployment.
• Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses: A tuition-free business education and support program targeting growth-oriented small businesses in underserved communities - structurally analogous to MORTAR's Academy, with cohort-based learning, capital networks, and post-program support, but operating at much larger national scale.

Emerging players

• Babson College - Lewis Institute for Social Innovation: Babson's center for social/impact entrepreneurship education and research, which runs programs supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs - a peer on the curriculum-and-ecosystem dimension, though anchored in an academic institution rather than a community nonprofit.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA): Federal agency providing training, resources, and capital access to small businesses nationwide - operates at far greater scale and breadth than MORTAR, and is a current referral partner, making it a broad incumbent in the same ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/brandinggladiator
• Instagraminstagram.com/justcallmeALLEN
• Xx.com/weareMORTAR

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors2 records

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 Mortar