Endeavor Atlanta, an accelerator program to nurture entrepreneurs with promising startup concepts, has named a new managing director.
Eileen Lee, a founder of two businesses, including The Lola, an Atlanta-based women’s club and co-working space, recently took on the top job with the Atlanta accelerator program. She succeeds founding Managing Director Aaron Hurst, who has led the nonprofit’s Atlanta office since it launched seven years ago.
Endeavor Atlanta is part of the Endeavor Global network, a collective of executives, founders and funders who support who it describes as “high-growth entrepreneurs in overlooked geographies around the world.”
Atlanta has a vibrant and diverse technology scene, but it is often criticized for a shortage of investment capital that sometimes founders leave to find financial backing. Endeavor Atlanta has provided assistance to more than 100 upstart companies backed by its board of well-known Atlanta area entrepreneurs, according to a news release, creating more than 8,000 jobs in that time.
Lee said Endeavor, which surrounds its selected entrepreneurs with mentorship, access to capital markets and other support, has helped show that “you don’t have to live in Silicon Valley to grow and scale a high-impact and high-growth business.”
“If you have enough role models in a region and they’re supporting the entrepreneurs and the young entrepreneurs, these areas can be high-growth areas,” she said.
Across its entire network, Endeavor supports more than 2,000 entrepreneurs in more than 30 countries.
Credit: Paul Markert
Credit: Paul Markert
“Endeavor Atlanta is fortunate to have Eileen lead the organization into its next phase of growth and success,” Hurst said in a news release. “Her exceptional experience and dedication to supporting entrepreneurs will be invaluable as we continue to identify, select and support high-growth founders in Atlanta, Birmingham, and the Southeast.”
Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, helped launch Endeavor Atlanta with seed funding and a Cox executive serves on the organization’s board.
