Empowered to Serve Business Accelerator™: Akron/Canton
Social entrepreneurs and health tech founders are transforming health across Akron and Canton communities. The Empowered to Serve Business Accelerator™ supports these changemakers by providing resources to local businesses that are helping transform health in their communities, thanks to local funding from the Bill Phillips Legacy Foundation.
58.5% of households in Northeast Ohio
have low access to healthy food.
People living in an area with low access to healthy foods
Life expectancy at birth
Metropolitan Akron:
66 years
Metropolitan Canton:
72 years
(compared to 77.3 years for the state of Ohio)
The Empowered to Serve Business Accelerator is a national American Heart Association program that provides social entrepreneurs, startups and businesses focusing on health impact the tools and support to grow and scale. Participants receive business training, grants and a lasting connection to the organization.
Selected candidates will:
- Receive four weeks of accelerator training.
- Refine their brand story and business model in a cohort with other local entrepreneurs.
- Share their brand story at an in-person event in Akron/Canton for a chance at up to $60,000 in grant funding.
1st prize: $30,000
2nd prize: $15,000
3rd prize: $10,000
Fan favorite prize: $5,000
Who can apply?
Applicants must:
- Be a U.S. resident 18 years or older.
- Be the founder, CEO or someone authorized to make changes to the business or project.
- Have an office in the Akron or Canton region and affect a community within that market.
- Address one or more categories of the social drivers of health.
- Have an innovation that improves health or social/economic challenges.
- Be available during crucial accelerator dates.
- Be a profit or nonprofit that focuses on health and social impact.
How do I apply?
- Review the eligibility section. (Be sure to review the timeline of dates.)
- Attend one of our market-shaping events to learn more.
- Submit the application form beginning Oct. 27.
- We will notify accepted candidates by Jan. 28.
Timeline
Application period:
Oct. 27-Dec. 5, 2025
Top candidates notified by:
Jan. 28, 2026
Candidates need to agree by:
Feb. 3, 2026
Pre-Accelerator:
Feb. 4-6, 2026
Training:
Feb. 9-March 13, 2026
Rehearsal/extra training:
March 13-20, 2026
In-person showcase:
Last week of March