Community Access to Capital: Turning Conversations into Opportunities

Mark Babaran • June 30, 2026

Real conversations. Real pathways to capital.

On June 10, 2026, The Boost Pad welcomed entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, lenders, and community partners for Community Access to Capital, an evening dedicated to helping founders better understand the many pathways to funding and business growth.


Hosted by The Boost Pad in partnership with Do Greater Charlotte at Spark House - West, the event was made possible through the generous sponsorship of Ally and the NC IDEA Foundation, whose continued investment in entrepreneurship helps strengthen North Carolina's small business ecosystem. Together, these organizations created an opportunity for founders to connect directly with financial experts, investors, and ecosystem leaders while gaining practical knowledge about preparing their businesses for capital.


Centered around the theme "Real conversations. Real pathways to capital.", the evening was designed to move beyond theory by equipping entrepreneurs with the knowledge, relationships, and confidence needed to pursue funding opportunities at every stage of their business journey.

More Than Funding—Building Capital Readiness

The evening opened with remarks from Steven Lewis, Executive Director of The Boost Pad, who reminded attendees that entrepreneurship thrives when founders have access not only to financial resources but also to the relationships, education, and community that help businesses succeed.


The purpose of the event was simple:


To connect early-stage entrepreneurs to capital pathways.


That mission shaped every conversation throughout the evening.


From Idea to Investment

One of the evening's highlights was a fireside chat featuring nationally recognized entrepreneur and investor Harold Hughes, Founder & CEO of NFNTE Capital & DIVI, alongside entrepreneur, investor, and ecosystem leader Dr. Shante Williams.


Together, they shared candid insights about the entrepreneurial journey—from launching an idea to preparing for investment. Their discussion challenged entrepreneurs to think beyond fundraising and instead focus on building businesses that are sustainable, scalable, and attractive to investors.


The conversation emphasized that raising capital begins long before an investor writes a check. It starts with solving meaningful problems, building credibility, understanding customers, and creating businesses worthy of investment.


Understanding Every Pathway to Capital

Following the fireside chat, attendees participated in Capital Access 101, an interactive panel featuring leaders from community lending organizations, traditional banking, and the investment community.


The discussion explored the three primary forms of business capital:

  • Debt through business lending and community financial institutions
  • Equity through angel investors and venture capital
  • Grants and non-dilutive funding opportunities


Panelists also discussed how lending decisions are made, what financial institutions look for, the importance of business credit and documentation, investor expectations, and how entrepreneurs can position themselves for future funding opportunities.

Rather than promoting one financing option over another, the conversation helped founders understand that different stages of business require different types of capital.


Creating Space for Honest Dialogue

One of the most valuable moments of the evening came during the audience Q&A.


Entrepreneurs engaged directly with lenders, investors, and funding experts, asking practical questions about eligibility, financial readiness, credit, business planning, and funding strategy.


These open conversations helped remove many of the barriers and misconceptions surrounding business financing while giving founders direct access to experienced professionals who genuinely wanted to see them succeed.


Connecting Entrepreneurs to Opportunity

Beyond education, attendees were introduced to a variety of grant opportunities available to entrepreneurs, including NC IDEA's MICRO and SEED grants, along with several national funding opportunities for small businesses.


Providing access to these resources reflects The Boost Pad's commitment to ensuring entrepreneurs leave every event with actionable next steps—not just inspiration.


Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Community Access to Capital demonstrated what makes The Boost Pad unique.

Entrepreneurship is rarely built alone.


It grows through partnerships between founders, lenders, investors, nonprofit organizations, corporations, and community leaders who believe in creating opportunity together.


Events like these strengthen Charlotte's entrepreneurial ecosystem by connecting the right people, encouraging collaboration, and helping entrepreneurs understand that access to capital begins with access to community.


A Community Effort to Empower Entrepreneurs

Community Access to Capital reflects what entrepreneurship looks like at its best—organizations working together to create meaningful opportunities for founders.


The Boost Pad is proud to partner with Do Greater Charlotte /Spark House to cultivate an entrepreneurial ecosystem where education, collaboration, and community come together. Through the generous sponsorship of Ally and the NC IDEA Foundation, the event connected entrepreneurs with experienced lenders, investors, and business leaders who are committed to expanding access to capital and helping businesses thrive.


These partnerships demonstrate that supporting entrepreneurs requires more than funding alone. It takes a connected ecosystem where founders can access trusted relationships, expert guidance, educational resources, and financial opportunities that help transform ideas into sustainable businesses.


Looking Ahead

Community Access to Capital served as an important milestone leading into Cohort 12's Pitch Night and Graduation, equipping founders with greater confidence, stronger financial knowledge, and expanded networks before presenting their businesses.


At The Boost Pad, our commitment extends beyond teaching entrepreneurs how to build businesses—we help them build the relationships, knowledge, and confidence needed to access the resources that fuel sustainable growth.


Because when founders have access to community, they gain access to opportunity.

Founder Stories & Startup Wins — The Boost Pad

Cohort 13 Kicks Off: 17 Founders Begin Their Journey with The Boost Pad

By Mark Babaran • September 24, 2026
There's a particular kind of energy in a room full of people who've decided to bet on themselves. On Wednesday, September 16, 2026 , that energy filled Do Greater Charlotte as 17 founders officially kicked off Cohort 13 of The Boost Pad Accelerator the beginning of a 14-week journey that will challenge them, stretch them, and ultimately transform how they think about the businesses they're building. We Build Entrepreneurs First. Businesses Follow. That phrase isn't just a tagline at The Boost Pad it's the whole philosophy behind everything we do. Before founders ever touch a financial model or a marketing plan, we ask them to slow down and answer a harder question: why does your business deserve to exist? That's the spirit Module 1 was built around Know Your Why and it set exactly the right tone for everything ahead. Because here's the truth every founder in that room learned on day one: purpose comes before product. Products evolve. Strategies shift. Markets change. But a founder who is clear on their purpose, their vision, their mission, and their values has a foundation that holds steady through all of it. When your why is clear, every decision who you serve, how you market, who you partner with, how you grow gets easier. A Team Fully Invested in Their Success This cohort isn't walking into the next four months alone. Founders were introduced to the full Boost Pad team who'll be alongside them at every stage from Executive Director Steven Lewis, to Entrepreneurs in Residence Harold Hughes and Charles Kearse guiding them toward stronger, more scalable businesses, to the operations, marketing, and program support team making sure nothing falls through the cracks. Add in a roster of experienced mentors and guest experts, and it's clear: no founder in Cohort 13 will be figuring this out solo. Introducing CoachMax: A Learning Experience Built for Founders One of the most exciting parts of Kick Off was introducing this cohort to their new digital home for the program: Thinkific , powered by CoachMax , our AI coach available on demand. Every module is already built and waiting founders log in, work through the week's content, submit their assignments, and track their own progress in real time. It's a structured, always-available layer of support that means learning doesn't stop when the session ends; it continues all week, every week. Building Toward Pitch Night, One Week at a Time Perhaps the most exciting part of this journey: founders won't wait until the final week to build their pitch. Starting this week, every founder began constructing their investor-ready pitch deck one slide at a time Title Slide first, then Problem, Solution, Business Model, and onward alongside a weekly 60-second elevator pitch video that gets sharper, tighter, and more confident with every submission. By the time Cohort 13 reaches Pitch Night on January 6, 2027 , every founder will walk on that stage with a complete, polished, investor-ready presentation built week by week not thrown together the night before. A Cohort as Diverse as Charlotte Itself What already stands out about this group is the range seventeen founders, seventeen different businesses, spanning technology, wellness, consumer products, event services, education, and more. It's exactly the kind of mix that makes a cohort strong: founders learning not just from mentors and EIRs, but from each other, across industries they'd never otherwise cross paths in. Delivered in Partnership with the Do Greater Foundation Cohort 13 is proudly delivered in partnership with the Do Greater Foundation two organizations united around the same outcome: expanding access for founders who've historically been underserved by traditional capital, and opening more doors, relationships, and rooms to the entrepreneurs building Charlotte's future. "Progress Comes Through Consistency, Curiosity, and Action." That's the standard this cohort committed to on day one show up, participate, ask questions, support each other, and apply what they learn. It's a high bar. It's also exactly why Boost Pad graduates go on to build real, sustainable businesses. Grateful for This Cohort Thank you to every founder who showed up ready to build, to our EIR team for leading the way, and to the broader Boost Pad and Do Greater Foundation community that makes a night like this possible. Cohort 13 has only just begun and we can't wait to watch these 17 founders discover their why , sharpen their pitch, and walk across that Pitch Night stage in January.
The Boost Pad and UNC Charlotte launch the Student Innovation Program, with group photo and blue branding.

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Listening First: The Boost Pad & Apparo Host a Technology Needs Session for Small Business

By Mark Babaran • September 24, 2026
Good support starts with good listening. That's the idea behind our latest Strategic Partner Network collaboration on Thursday, September 17, 2026 , The Boost Pad partnered with Apparo to host a virtual listening session focused on one question: is technology helping small businesses run, or making it harder? A Session Built Around Real Voices For more than 20 years, Apparo has helped organizations use technology more effectively through practical, accessible guidance and support. Now, they're exploring whether that same kind of support could benefit small, owner-run businesses and rather than guessing at the answer, they wanted to hear it directly from business owners themselves. That's exactly what this session was for. Small business owners joined us virtually to talk openly about the technology they deal with day to day from CRM and customer management to accounting systems, marketing tools, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, cybersecurity and data protection, and AI and automation. No pitch, no sales agenda just a genuine conversation about what's working, what's not, and where the real friction points are. What We Heard The conversation did exactly what it was meant to do. As Apparo's Director of Technology Engagements, Jennifer Ray, put it afterward: the discussion helped confirm assumptions about the value Apparo might bring to the small business community. In other words the challenges business owners described lined up with what Apparo suspected, and now there's real, firsthand insight to help shape what comes next. Didn't Make It? You Can Still Weigh In For anyone who registered but couldn't attend live, Apparo shared a recording of the session along with a short follow-up questionnaire so more voices can still be part of shaping this work: 🎥 Watch the Session Recording → Grateful for the Partnership A big thank you to Jennifer Ray and the Apparo team for bringing this idea to us and trusting our community enough to ask hard questions and actually listen to the answers. And thank you to everyone who showed up, shared honestly, and helped shape what smarter technology support could look like for small businesses across Charlotte. Join the Strategic Partner Network This session is one small example of what's possible when organizations like Apparo choose to invest their expertise in Charlotte's entrepreneurs. The Boost Pad's Strategic Partner Network brings together Alumni Partners , Professional Partners , and Community Partners each contributing knowledge, mentorship, networking, or industry guidance, for a commitment of just five hours per cohort cycle. If your organization has expertise to offer technology, finance, marketing, legal, or otherwise we'd love to talk about what a partnership could look like. Become a Strategic Partner → Practical technology. Real business challenges. Your voice.
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