New KPMG-powered accelerator lands customers faster
At Launch Chapel Hill, a Big Four accounting firm is helping deep-tech startups connect breakthrough ideas to buyers.
A collaboration among UNC-Chapel Hill, Big Four accounting firm KPMG and the Town of Chapel Hill is a new model for helping companies building frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, biotech and robotics.
In its first year, Launch Chapel Hill Powered by KPMG, an accelerator headquartered at the Innovate Carolina Junction, helped 32 startup companies make the leap from working product to first paying customer, often called the “valley of death.”
Professor Steven King, founder and CEO of Blue Sky Robotics. (Submitted photo)
“What we do differently is help deep-tech and AI companies secure early pilots and customers,” said Emil Runge, director of Launch Chapel Hill. “Getting that first customer is a major pain point, so we help build the go-to-market strategy and scaffolding to get through that valley of death.”
KPMG’s involvement is deeply embedded in the program. From the beginning, the firm wanted to be more than a logo on the wall.
“We toured different universities and accelerators because we wanted to figure out what’s successful and what people are working on,” said Brad Jenkins, managing director, enterprise innovation at KPMG LLP. “We still prepare and educate founders, but also go beyond those basics to help companies validate their market and create the customer relationships they need. We’re focused on getting them to market and in front of buyers right now.”
The KPMG team leads workshops, mentors founders, shapes curriculum alongside Launch Chapel Hill and Innovate Carolina and connects startups to enterprise clients. In some cases, the firm pilots the startups’ technologies internally.
The respective strengths of the University and KPMG create an advantage for startups, said Sheryl Waddell, UNC-Chapel Hill’s director of innovation hubs and engagement.
“KPMG brings a global network of consultants with deep industry expertise who guide founders on how to work with enterprise buyers, plus an extensive portfolio of KPMG clients who may become customers or collaborators,” said Waddell. “UNC and Innovate Carolina connect startups to faculty who are conducting relevant research as well as to students who can support and learn from the companies.”
Cohort 3.0 companies gather for Demo Day pitches at the Junction. (Submitted photo)
Nuts and bolts of a novel accelerator
Company founders are taking notice and jumping aboard. Applications have more than doubled in the program’s first year.
The six-week accelerator program immerses companies in a structured set of growth experiences, including workshops, mentorship, peer collaboration and connections to KPMG consultants and customers. Each cohort also includes opportunities to present internally during small-group meetings and larger Demo Day events. The program also supports founders in pitching at startup showcases like CED Venture Connect and Grep-a-Palooza in the wider Raleigh-Durham region. Sessions focus on customer discovery, market definition, value proposition, storytelling, go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales, investor readiness and funding opportunities.
The Launch Powered by KPMG team often plays matchmaker between current and past companies that can help one another as mentors, customers or network connectors. It also invites past participants to return and participate in events and works with founders after they complete the formal program.
Jeanine Fry (left), CEO of LOOM3D, talks with Emil Runge (right) of Launch Chapel Hill. (Submitted photo)
“Whether or not the company that came through the cohort becomes a unicorn, gets bought, or starts something else — whatever they end up doing — we want to have a mentoring relationship with them and see what they go on to do,” said Ginger Luckey, manager for enterprise innovation at KPMG LLP. “We hope to follow them for a long time.”
Looking ahead, the model may extend far beyond Chapel Hill, said Jordan McAlister, associate director for KPMG LLP Enterprise Innovation. “I believe universities in other cities will see what we’re doing in Chapel Hill and say, ‘Hey, we want that model. We want to tap into whatever is unique about our ecosystem and grow that, too.’ It would be exciting to use what we’re creating at UNC as the case study for new accelerator models across the country.”
