ILT Academy
ILT Academy is a privately held, bootstrapped virtual business school that delivers 11-week live cohort-based entrepreneurship training programs to individual founders, SMB operators, and underserved builders across the upper Midwest.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersBellville, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What ILT Academy does
ILT Academy, INC is a privately held, bootstrapped business education company founded in 2020 and headquartered in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It delivers live, cohort-based virtual entrepreneurship training organized around the principle that entrepreneurship is a 'skilled trade.' Its core products are the 100 Series Bootcamp (11 weeks, $3,000 per builder) covering design thinking, lean startup, customer discovery, and business modeling, and the 300 Series Bootcamp (11 weeks, $6,000 per builder) covering financial modeling, go-to-market strategy, and investor pitch development, with the 300 Series requiring 100 Series completion. Supporting offerings include Builder Labs (half-day to two-day intensives), ILT Sprints (one- to two-day intensives), and free 60-minute webinars. Revenue is generated through one-time tuition payments processed via Stripe, with a 15% team-pricing discount for groups of two or more builders, and supplemented by fully funded scholarship seats delivered through regional economic development partners including Northspan, Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and the North Dakota Department of Commerce under a federal SSBCI program.
The curriculum is architected by founder and CEO Nick Tietz, who has trained more than 1,200 founders across 55 cohorts spanning Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Alumni collectively report raising over $27 million, including placements at Y Combinator and Techstars and launches of more than 850 companies. The program wraps AI tools and AI-native thinking into every framework as a stated core differentiator, and the company is actively developing proprietary AI-powered student tools led by an in-house AI Systems and Operations Analyst. Community events (bi-weekly ILT Startup Connect, quarterly 30 Second Pitch Night, Founder Showcase, and Demo Day) and an alumni Slack community extend engagement beyond the 11-week program window. The customer base is concentrated on individual founders, SMB operators, and underserved builders in the upper Midwest, with no disclosed institutional investment, funding rounds, or parent company.
ILT Academy firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ILT Academy
- Legal name
- ILT Academy, INC
- Website
- https://iltacademy.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- ILT Academy is a privately held, bootstrapped virtual business school that delivers 11-week live cohort-based entrepreneurship training programs to individual founders, SMB operators, and underserved builders across the upper Midwest.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ILT Academy industry classification
Industry- NAICS
- Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Online/Hybrid Lifelong Learning Platforms & Open Enrollment Programs (EDAAAEAL), AI & Machine Learning (Foundations & Applied) (EDAMACAG), Technical Bootcamps & Accelerated Reskilling (Full-time/Part-time) (BPAEANAE)
Keywords
Where ILT Academy is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bellville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
ILT Academy business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Program Tuition - 100 Series Bootcamp: 11-week foundational entrepreneur training program priced at $3,000 per builder. Team pricing available at 15% discount for 2+ builders enrolling together.
- Program Tuition - 300 Series Bootcamp: 11-week advanced entrepreneur training program priced at $6,000 per builder. Prerequisites 100 Series required first. Team pricing available.
- Builder Labs and Sprints: Short-duration intensives - Builder Labs (half-day to 2 days) and Sprints (1-2 days) with focused training on specific challenges. Tuition applies toward bootcamp enrollment.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | 100 Series Bootcamp - Individual |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | 100 Series Bootcamp - Team |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | 300 Series Bootcamp - Individual |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | 300 Series Bootcamp - Team |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | 100 Series Scholarship |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | 300 Series Scholarship |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels9 records
ILT Academy product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ILT Academy delivers live, cohort-based entrepreneurship training programs taught virtually. The core offering is the 100 Series Bootcamp (an 11-week foundational program covering design thinking, lean startup, customer discovery, and AI-native business building) and the 300 Series Bootcamp (an advanced 11-week program covering financial modeling, go-to-market strategy, and investor pitch development). Shorter-format Builder Labs and Sprints provide topic-specific intensives. All programs integrate AI tools and frameworks into every session, and qualifying builders in specific regions can access fully funded scholarship seats through regional economic development partners.
Product overview
ILT Academy is a modern business school offering a multi-tiered program portfolio centered on live virtual entrepreneur training. The core offerings are the 100 Series Bootcamp (foundational, $3,000) and 300 Series Bootcamp (advanced, $6,000)—both 11-week live virtual programs that integrate AI tools throughout the curriculum. The programs build upon each other, with 100 Series required before 300 Series enrollment. Supporting offerings include Builder Labs (4-hour sessions), Sprints (1-2 day intensives), and Free Webinars covering topics from customer discovery to growth hacking. Scholarship programs fully fund seats for qualifying builders in Northeast Minnesota and Central Minnesota regions. Community events including 30 Second Pitch Night, Founder Showcase, and Demo Day provide networking and pitch opportunities, with alumni gaining access to the Slack-based alumni network.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- 1,200+ founders trained
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use ILT Academy
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
ILT Academy technology and API
TechnologyAPI detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability3 records
Feature2 records
ILT Academy partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- NorthspancoreRegional scholarship partner for Northeast Minnesota. Funds fully paid scholarship seats across 10 counties and 6 Native Nations — serving BIPOC founders, rural entrepreneurs, Native American communities, Veterans, and Women-owned businesses who might otherwise not have access.
- Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation (GSC)coreRegional scholarship partner for Central Minnesota (Benton, Sherburne, Stearns counties). Sponsors cohort seats for qualifying builders in the St. Cloud region.
- Minnesota Dept. of TransportationsupportingState of Minnesota partner that has funded ILT Academy programs to bring entrepreneurship training to workforces and entrepreneurs across the state.
- North Dakota Dept. of CommercecoreSelected by ND Dept. of Commerce as a delivery partner for a federal SSBCI program. Operates statewide serving BIPOC founders, Veterans, rural entrepreneurs, and underserved communities across North Dakota.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
ILT Academy competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- General Assembly: Long-established skills bootcamp brand offering short, paid cohort-based courses (including entrepreneurship, product, and data tracks). Targets adult professionals paying $1K-$4K+ for structured training — a directly comparable business model and price point to ILT Academy.
- SCORE: Free SBA-affiliated mentorship and small-business training for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs. A free incumbent that competes for ILT's underserved and value-sensitive entrepreneur segments, especially in the upper Midwest.
- Coursera Entrepreneurship Specializations: Online degree and certificate programs (often from universities) covering entrepreneurship, lean startup, and innovation. Competes for the same aspiring-founder audience with cheaper, asynchronous, university-branded alternatives.
- Y Combinator Startup School: Y Combinator's free online program for early-stage founders covering similar fundamentals (idea validation, customer discovery, building a product). Competes for the same founder attention at the top of the funnel, but offers no live cohort, accountability, or coaching.
Direct peers
- Techstars Startup Weekend: Weekend-long entrepreneurship events that compress idea-formation, validation, and pitch practice into a short live cohort — the same core pitch/validation loop ILT Academy teaches over 11 weeks, and the same part of the founder-journey funnel.
- Founders Network: Peer-mentorship community and curated programming for early-stage founders, with structured content and access to mentors/investors. Closely comparable to ILT Academy's community-led GTM and ongoing alumni engagement model.
- Maven: Cohort-based learning platform for live virtual courses taught by practitioners, with similar mechanics (live sessions, peer accountability, instructor-led). Hosts entrepreneurship and business tracks that compete for the same self-paying adult-learner audience ILT serves.
- Section (formerly Section4): Live cohort-based online business education for working professionals and founders, with practitioner instructors and structured programs. Competes for the same learner paying $1K-$5K+ for cohort-based, outcome-oriented business training.
Regional players
- MassChallenge: Non-equity accelerator with cohort programming, mentorship, and Demo Day for early-stage founders. Adjacent in model and mission (democratizing access to entrepreneurship) and a relevant peer for ILT's impact-oriented positioning.
Emerging players
- Alchemist Accelerator: Accelerator for early-stage founders (especially enterprise/B2B) with cohort programming, mentorship, and Demo Day. Sits one stage later than ILT Academy on the founder journey but pulls from a similar pre-seed founder pool.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
ILT Academy social profiles
Digital presenceILT Academy financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ILT Academy leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
ILT Academy funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ILT Academy 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 ILT Academy
What does ILT Academy do?
ILT Academy delivers live, cohort-based entrepreneurship training programs taught virtually. The core offering is the 100 Series Bootcamp (an 11-week foundational program covering design thinking, lean startup, customer discovery, and AI-native business building) and the 300 Series Bootcamp (an advanced 11-week program covering financial modeling, go-to-market strategy, and investor pitch development). Shorter-format Builder Labs and Sprints provide topic-specific intensives. All programs integrate AI tools and frameworks into every session, and qualifying builders in specific regions can access fully funded scholarship seats through regional economic development partners.
Is ILT Academy a public or private company?
ILT Academy is a private company. It is currently operating.
When was ILT Academy founded?
ILT Academy was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is ILT Academy based?
ILT Academy is headquartered in Bellville, United States, in the North America region.
How does ILT Academy make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Program Tuition - 100 Series Bootcamp is the primary driver. The others are program Tuition - 300 Series Bootcamp and builder Labs and Sprints.
Who are ILT Academy's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are General Assembly, SCORE, Coursera Entrepreneurship Specializations and Y Combinator Startup School. Direct peers are Techstars Startup Weekend, Founders Network, Maven and Section (formerly Section4). MassChallenge is listed as a regional player. Alchemist Accelerator is listed as an emerging player.
Does ILT Academy have an API?
No public API is recorded for ILT Academy.
What industry is ILT Academy in?
Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMAHAA, Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics, with a secondary code of EDAAAEAL, Online/Hybrid Lifelong Learning Platforms & Open Enrollment Programs. Its NAICS code is 611430 and its SIC code is 8200.