College of Business > About > Centers & Institutes > Women in Entrepreneurship Institute > Business Accelerator Programs

Business Accelerator Programs

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Business Accelerator Programs
Two people talking during a Business Accelerator Program event.
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Designed and delivered by successful women entrepreneurs, WEI's Business Accelerator Programs prepare founders to grow their businesses and scale into new markets.

After successful completion of one of our programs, businesses are eligible to apply to receive legal services from the Business Law Clinic and to receive a variety of other services from students engaging in coursework, supervised by faculty.

Pre-Accelerator Four-Week Business Program

Application deadline: We accept applications on a rolling basis.

The pre-accelerator program is designed to help businesses grow and enter new markets. Topics for this four-week program include market research, competitive advantages, and the importance of your company’s differentiators, customer acquisition, messaging and branding. Our next cohort is scheduled for fall 2022.

Apply to the four-week program

Eight-Week Business Accelerator Program

This program is specifically designed for women entrepreneurs whose companies have an annual revenue of $50,000 or more. If you're prepared to learn more about financial reporting, forecasting and banking, then this program is for you. The eight-week accelerator will also help you build brand visibility and a sales strategy, hire (more) employees, and capture the attention of investors.

Apply to the eight-week program

“The curriculum in this program was strong, and the visiting speakers are all successful powerful women entrepreneurs who gave their expertise and time to open doors and share their wisdom and experience. The women in the program are also amazing entrepreneurs, aware that they needed something outside of themselves to get to the next level. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn with and from such a dynamic group of women.”

Andrea Herrera
Founder, Boxperience

Elsie Cardell 

Delivering Impact on Women-Owned Businesses

59

businesses served across seven program cohorts.

69%

of WEI businesses increased revenue even through the pandemic.

40%

of businesses employed more people following the completion of the program.

62.2%

of businesses led by women of color.

97.8%

of businesses retained all employees and/or added new positions during the pandemic (across all cohorts).

Contact Us:

Questions about the program? Email the Women in Entrepreneurship at WEI@depaul.edu or read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).