Accelerate St. Louis

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Regional entrepreneurship coalition providing non-dilutive startup funding, business support, and ecosystem coordination to accelerate startup growth and economic development in the St. Louis region.
What are the main aims and objectives?

The primary mission of Accelerate St. Louis is to accelerate the growth of St. Louis' dynamic startup community through connections and resources, raising awareness of the resurgence in startup and entrepreneurial innovation throughout the region. More specifically, Accelerate St. Louis aims to recognize and support top startups in the region through competitive recognition and award programs; to provide non-dilutive funding to promising early-stage companies through annual prize competitions; to help retain and attract innovative entrepreneurs to the St. Louis region by creating visible economic opportunities and reducing brain drain to coastal tech hubs; to facilitate connections between entrepreneurs, investors, corporate partners, and support organizations; to raise the profile of St. Louis as a startup and innovation destination; to support economic development through job creation by innovative high-growth companies; and to foster entrepreneurial innovation across diverse sectors including technology, life sciences, clean energy, export-focused companies, and other industries. The initiative reflects commitment by Greater St. Louis, Inc. to foster inclusive economic growth, create high-quality jobs, and strengthen the St. Louis region's global competitiveness through supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.

How does the program work?

Accelerate St. Louis operates as an entrepreneurship coalition providing multiple coordinated mechanisms to support startups at different development stages and facilitate connections across the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Primary Mechanism – Accelerate St. Louis Challenge:

The Accelerate St. Louis Challenge (formerly St. Louis Startup Challenge), created in 2010, is the flagship annual business plan competition and recognition program. The competition features substantial non-dilutive cash prizes totaling $120,000 distributed among winning startups, recognizing top startups in the region and helping fund ventures without requiring equity dilution. Prize structure includes top three winners receiving $50,000, $30,000, and $20,000 respectively, plus four "Bright Futures Inclusion Awards" providing additional $5,000 prizes each for minority-, woman-, immigrant-, and veteran-owned businesses. Winners receive one year of professional services including marketing, legal, and accounting support worth approximately $375+ hours annually, plus office space provision.

Startup Connection Event:

The annual Startup Connection event, held during Global Entrepreneurship Week (typically November), draws over 1,200 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovation community members. The event includes a startup showcase featuring 70 hand-picked startups demonstrating products and services, a resource fair enabling direct engagement between entrepreneurship support organizations, vendors, and startups, and pitch sessions including competitive pitches from award finalists.

Specialized Competitions:

The STL Export Accelerator, introduced in 2019, awards $60,000 in prize money to startups and small-to-mid-sized companies planning to export within two years, collaborating with World Trade Center St. Louis, St. Louis Mosaic Project, Brookings Global Cities Initiative, and JPMorgan Chase.

Ecosystem Coordination:

Accelerate St. Louis functions as central hub coordinating multiple complementary initiatives including various accelerator programs (Capital Innovators, SixThirty, BioGenerator, Ameren Accelerator, UMSL Accelerate, and others), connecting entrepreneurs to resources and enabling efficient resource deployment across the ecosystem.

Funding and Resource Deployment:

In November 2025, Greater St. Louis, Inc. announced $1 million in new funding for Accelerate St. Louis, with $150,000 each designated for Prosper Women Entrepreneurs and SixThirty financial technology accelerator, and $700,000 allocated to a sidecar fund helping fund early-stage companies.

What is the overall cost?

The overall budget of the program is not known, however, The Accelerate St. Louis Challenge currently awards $120,000 annually in non-dilutive cash prizes and in November 2025, Greater St. Louis, Inc. announced $1 million in total funding through Accelerate St. Louis for startup acceleration initiatives.

How was it implemented?

Accelerate St. Louis was created by the St. Louis Regional Chamber (now Greater St. Louis, Inc., formed in 2021) in response to recognition that while Forbes identified St. Louis as one of the top 10 U.S. cities for startups and entrepreneurs, the startup community remained relatively fragmented with limited visibility and cross-organizational coordination.

The St. Louis Startup Challenge was launched in 2010 as the flagship program within Accelerate St. Louis, designed to recognize top startups and provide non-dilutive funding through competitive prizes. The competition initially received 140 applications, demonstrating substantial local entrepreneurial interest. Long-time corporate sponsor Edward Jones provided initial funding for prize money and support services.

From 2010 onward, Accelerate St. Louis expanded significantly: the annual Startup Connection event was formalized, drawing increasingly larger crowds (over 1,200 attendees by 2016); new specialized tracks were added within the Accelerate Challenge recognizing specific company types and inclusion categories; the program was renamed from "St. Louis Startup Challenge" to "Accelerate St. Louis Challenge" to reflect broader scope. The program coordinated with multiple accelerators and incubators across the region including Capital Innovators, SixThirty, BioGenerator, and others, with partnerships deepening over time.

In 2019, Accelerate St. Louis introduced the specialized STL Export Accelerator program, recognizing that exporting companies represented distinct support needs, with funding and partnership from the World Trade Center St. Louis, St. Louis Mosaic Project, Brookings Global Cities Initiative, and JPMorgan Chase. This addition demonstrated adaptive program design based on ecosystem analysis and stakeholder feedback.

In January 2021, the St. Louis Regional Chamber merged with four other regional legacy organizations (AllianceSTL, Arch to Park, Civic Progress, and Downtown STL, Inc.) to form Greater St. Louis, Inc., consolidating economic development efforts and reorganizing Accelerate St. Louis as a component of the unified organization. This integration aimed to align and coordinate regional entrepreneurship support more effectively through unified branding and resource pooling.

In November 2025, Greater St. Louis, Inc. announced significant funding expansion for Accelerate St. Louis with $1 million committed to accelerator programs and sidecar funding, with particular emphasis on women entrepreneurs through Prosper Women Entrepreneurs funding ($150,000), reflecting continued commitment to regional startup ecosystem development and inclusive entrepreneurship.

What impact has been measured?

The Accelerate St. Louis Challenge has awarded over $500,000 total to St. Louis startups since 2010, providing non-dilutive funding enabling companies to scale without diluting founder equity. The program coordinates provision of approximately 375+ hours of free professional services (legal, accounting, marketing) annually to participating companies.

The annual Startup Connection event has grown to attract over 1,200 participants (entrepreneurs, investors, support professionals, and community members), representing significant community engagement and visibility building for the startup ecosystem. The event provides platform for 70 hand-picked startups to showcase products and services annually.

What lessons can be learned?
  • Non-dilutive prize funding attracts large applicant volumes: The Accelerate St. Louis Challenge's consistent receipt of 140+ applications annually and growth to multiple award categories demonstrates that substantial non-dilutive cash prizes (totaling $120,000) attract competitive participation, validating equity-free funding approach for startup recognition and support.
  • Coordinating ecosystem through umbrella platforms improves visibility: The Accelerate St. Louis framework coordinating multiple accelerators, competitions, and events through single umbrella platform with common branding demonstrates that ecosystem coordination and unified marketing increases visibility and participant engagement compared to fragmented individual programs.
  • Large annual events create community engagement momentum: The Startup Connection event's growth to 1,200+ annual participants shows that large-scale, public-facing annual events with diverse programming (showcase, resource fair, pitch competitions) successfully activate and engage entrepreneurship communities and create media attention.
  • Inclusion-focused award categories increase diverse founder participation: The Bright Futures Inclusion Awards providing additional $5,000 prizes for minority-, woman-, immigrant-, and veteran-owned businesses demonstrates that explicit, dedicated funding categories for underrepresented entrepreneurs increase application diversity and competitive participation.
  • Specialized competitions address distinct market segments: The introduction of the STL Export Accelerator (2019) recognizing export-focused companies demonstrates that tailored competitions addressing specific entrepreneur segments (exporters, women founders, etc.) enable more precise ecosystem support and opportunities than one-size-fits-all approaches.
  • Corporate sponsorship provides sustainable funding: Edward Jones' long-term sponsorship of the Accelerate Challenge and JPMorgan Chase's participation in STL Export Accelerator demonstrate that corporate partnership and sponsorship can provide sustainable funding for startup support programs, reducing dependence on government budgets.
  • Organizational consolidation can strengthen coordination: The 2021 consolidation of five legacy regional organizations into Greater St. Louis, Inc. and integration of Accelerate St. Louis into unified structure demonstrates that coordinating previously fragmented organizations can align strategies and improve resource deployment efficiency.
  • Limited published comprehensive evaluation constrains understanding: The absence of published independent evaluations documenting program outcomes, business survival rates, employment creation, or comparative effectiveness limits evidence-based program refinement and prevents assessment of whether prize-based funding drives superior outcomes compared to alternative support models.
  • Funding growth signals continued policy commitment: The November 2025 announcement of $1 million new Accelerate St. Louis funding demonstrates sustained government and corporate commitment to regional startup ecosystem development despite broader economic conditions, suggesting that visible success and community engagement justify continued investment.
  • Regional branding supports ecosystem positioning: The evolution from "St. Louis Startup Challenge" to "Accelerate St. Louis Challenge" and creation of unified Accelerate St. Louis brand demonstrates that cohesive naming and branding of related programs under single umbrella increases visibility and ecosystem coherence compared to isolated individual program names.

CURATED BY

Simona Bielli

Research Programme Coordinator – Digital Startups
Nesta
United Kingdom