Empowered to Serve Business Accelerator: Akron/Canton

A professional woman is in an office setting interacting with a digital tablet.

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.

Market-Shaping Events

Join us to learn more about the Empowered to Serve Business Accelerator: Akron/Canton at one of these market-shaping events. Register for an event

58.5% of households in Northeast Ohio

have low access to healthy food.

People living in an area with low access to healthy foods

Metropolitan Akron:
100%

Metropolitan Canton:
79%

statistics source

Life expectancy at birth

Metropolitan Akron:
66 years

Metropolitan Canton:
72 years

(compared to 77.3 years for the state of Ohio)

Woman doing a presentation

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 $30,000 in grant funding.

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?

  1. Review the eligibility section. (Be sure to review the timeline of dates.)
     
  2. Attend one of our market-shaping events to learn more.
     
  3. Submit the application form beginning Oct. 27.
     
  4. 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

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.

The Empowered to Serve Business Accelerator: Akron/Canton is locally funded by the Bill Phillips Legacy Foundation.