Startup Moxie Elkhart County

What Startup Moxie Elkhart County does

Startup Moxie Elkhart County (SMEC) is a non-profit educational program launched in 2020 that delivers a year-long entrepreneurship curriculum to high school students in Elkhart County, Indiana. Operating under the RISE (Regional Innovation and Startup Education) brand and hosted by the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, the program awards participating students six high school credits plus eighteen dual-enrollment college credits through Ivy Tech. The curriculum is experiential and employer-embedded: students participate in 40+ business tours and engage with 150+ guest speakers annually, with named partners such as Colbert Packaging providing both site visits and pitch-judging roles (July 2025). The executive director is Kris Weimer, and the team size is reported as 1-10.

The program recruits cohorts from multiple Elkhart County high schools (Concord, Goshen, Northridge, Fairfield) through a formal partnership with Elkhart County Schools announced in July 2025, with applications now open for the 2026-2027 academic year. There are no tuition fees for participating students; the "product" is the curriculum, mentorship network, dual-credit credential, and direct employer exposure.

The business model is donation-funded non-profit. SMEC raises money from a small set of named regional "seat sponsors" — Kem Krest, Lake City Bank, Office Interiors, Crowe, Kruggel Lawton CPA, Welch Packaging, and the Greater Elkhart Chamber — and processes donations through the Community Foundation of Elkhart County. There is no equity, no software product, and no fee-for-service offering; revenue is the sum of corporate sponsorships, individual donations, and in-kind contributions from educational and employer partners.

Name

Startup Moxie Elkhart County

Legal name

Regional Innovation and Startup Education

Website

https://startupec.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Non-profit Chamber-hosted program (founded 2020) delivering a year-long entrepreneurship curriculum to high school students in Elkhart County, Indiana, awarding dual college credits via Ivy Tech. Funded by regional corporate seat sponsors and donations processed through the Community Foundation of Elkhart County.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Entrepreneurship Education

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Business and Secretarial Schools (61141)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Entrepreneurship, Startup Incubation & Pitch Programs (EDAMAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

Keywords

• Youth entrepreneurship education
• High school business program
• Dual college credit program
• Nonprofit education program
• Student startup incubator

Headquarters

HQ city

Elkhart

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Investments: As a non-profit RISE program, Startup Moxie operates entirely on donations and investments from the South Bend-Elkhart regional entrepreneurial ecosystem. The program accepts donations through the Community Foundation of Elkhart County with funds directed to Startup Moxie – Greater Elkhart Chamber.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Startup Moxie Elkhart County operates a yearlong, in-person entrepreneurship program for high school juniors and seniors that combines daily classroom instruction at Ivy Tech Elkhart/Goshen Campus with weekly behind-the-scenes tours of regional businesses. Students earn up to 6 high school credits and 18 dual college credits through Ivy Tech while launching a class business or their own personal venture from concept to revenue. The program is delivered free of charge to participants and is funded through community donations and corporate seat sponsorships.

Product overview

Startup Moxie Elkhart County operates as a single educational program — an entrepreneurship-focused dual credit course for high school students. The program is a year-long commitment meeting Monday through Friday, where students gain hands-on experience through immersive behind-the-scenes business tours, network with over 150 guest speakers and community members, and develop real entrepreneurial mindset by launching a class business or creating their own personal venture. Students can earn up to 6 high school credits and 18 dual college credits through Ivy Tech Elkhart/Goshen Campus. The program serves as both a youth entrepreneurship development initiative and a research and development lab for entrepreneurial best practices, fostering student growth into future leaders in both business and community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Startup Moxie Program A yearlong, in-person entrepreneurship education program for high school juniors and seniors in Elkhart County. Students attend classes Monday through Friday, 7:30-9:00am, at the Ivy Tech Elkhart/Goshen Campus and participate in weekly behind-the-scenes tours of local businesses. Participants earn up to 6 high school credits and 18 dual college credits through Ivy Tech (with GPA 2.6+ or qualifying test scores), develop an entrepreneurial mindset, and launch a class business or personal venture from idea to revenue. The program is delivered free of charge to students.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Elkhart County SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 July 2025Partnership with multiple high schools across Elkhart County for student recruitment. Schools include Concord, Northridge, Elkhart High, Goshen, Jimtown, NorthWood, Westview, Elkhart Christian Academy, Fairfield, and others.
• Colbert PackagingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerColbert Packaging participates in the Startup Moxie program as a host for student business tours. Sixteen students recently toured their Elkhart facility to gain insights into business operations and manufacturing processes. The company plans to expand involvement in 2026 by assisting with judging student business pitches.
• Greater Elkhart Chamber of CommercecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce hosts Startup Moxie's mailing address and serves as a key organizational partner, providing administrative support and community connections. Home to Regional Innovation and Startup Education (RISE) programs.
• Ivy Tech Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIvy Tech Elkhart/Goshen Campus serves as the venue for Startup Moxie classes. The program offers 18 dual college credits through Ivy Tech for students meeting requirements (GPA 2.6+ or qualifying test scores).
• RISE (Regional Innovation and Startup Education)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRISE is the parent organization of Startup Moxie, a regional initiative focused on innovation and startup education for high school students in Elkhart County.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• DECA: National student organization preparing high schoolers for careers in business, marketing, finance, and entrepreneurship through competitive events and chapter-based programming. Comparable in serving the same high school business-education segment, though more competition- and curriculum-oriented and less focused on launching actual student ventures.
• Junior Achievement: The largest and most established youth entrepreneurship and work-readiness education provider in the U.S., offering K-12 programs that include student-run ventures and business mentoring. Directly comparable to Startup Moxie's mission of fostering entrepreneurial mindset in high schoolers, but at vastly greater national scale.
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA): Largest student business organization in the U.S., offering high schoolers leadership development, business competitions, and career preparation. Comparable in addressing the same high school business-education gap, though primarily competition- and leadership-oriented rather than venture-launching.

Direct peers

• Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!): Year-long after-school program that guides middle and high school students through launching real businesses, complete with investor pitch events. Matches Startup Moxie's immersive, venture-launching format and credit-bearing structure, but is delivered through franchise sites rather than as a single regional program.
• LaunchX: Summer entrepreneurship program for high school students in which participants launch real companies under mentorship from entrepreneurs and investors. Comparable in venture-creation pedagogy and target demographic, though LaunchX operates as a premium tuition-based program while Startup Moxie is free and donor-funded.
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): Non-profit delivering entrepreneurship education and pitch competitions specifically to high school students from under-resourced communities. Closest direct peer in mission, audience, and nonprofit donor-funded model, though operating nationally rather than confined to a single county.

Emerging players

• Venture For America: Non-profit fellowship placing recent college graduates into startup roles in emerging U.S. cities to boost local entrepreneurial ecosystems. Comparable in mission to build regional entrepreneurial talent pipelines (Startup Moxie's explicit goal of retaining talent in Elkhart County), though serving a post-college cohort rather than high schoolers.

Others

• Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce: The host organization for Startup Moxie, providing administrative support, mailing address, and community connections. Functions as an enabling partner and ecosystem convener rather than a competitor, comparable only insofar as both engage the same regional business community and talent-retention agenda.
• RISE Indiana (Regional Innovation and Startup Education): The parent organization/regional initiative under which Startup Moxie operates. Not a peer in the competitive sense — rather the umbrella platform of which Startup Moxie is a flagship program and through which additional replicated programs could be launched in other regions.

Regional players

• South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership: Public-private economic development organization for the same South Bend-Elkhart region Startup Moxie serves. Comparable as a regional talent-retention and entrepreneurial-ecosystem builder, and a board member (CEO Bethany Hartley) sits on Startup Moxie's board, signaling direct ecosystem overlap.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/StartupMoxieEC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 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 Startup Moxie Elkhart County