Volta Adopts Flexible Learning Model For Startup Accelerator Program
HALIFAX — Halifax tech accelerator Volta has just unveiled a massive overhaul of its Academy Program.
The Volta Academy is geared toward very early-stage entrepreneurs who want to learn the basic fundamentals of how to grow a startup. It aims to help fledgling founders move from an idea to a startup with a minimum viable product.
In an effort to make the program more accessible and work better for founders, Volta recently made some dramatic changes.
The new model uses a “flipped classroom” approach that gives founders new flexibility and the ability to move at their own pace.
Traditionally, the program had been offered biannually, with a selection period followed by 12 weeks of sessions. In this edition, there will be a continuous intake of participants and sessions offered on an ongoing basis.
The program will blend at-home, pre-recorded learning from tech and innovation leaders with real-time, virtual sessions.
Volta CEO Martha Casey tells Huddle the changes are based on direct feedback she and her team heard from founders.
“What we’re really focusing on is meeting founders where they are—to get them the support that they need to increase the probability of success. So it’s not just programming for programming sake; it is directly responding to what we are hearing and seeing in the startup community,” she says.
She points out that many early-stage entrepreneurs are running their business as a side hustle. Or maybe they have kids or classes or other commitments that make scheduling difficult.
Giving participants the latitude to prepare at their own pace and then come to sessions when they’re properly ready paves the way for more success.
“If I were to go to some lecture by an MIT professor in engineering, I’d be lost. I would not benefit from it the same way somebody who was better prepared and educated in that area [would]. So this really kind of gets people on the same footing so the peer-to-peer sessions are more valuable,” Casey says.
The new structure will also see the Academy broken down into four phases that participants can start at any time.
Each phase will focus on a different theme, including how to build a founding team; conduct customer discovery to validate your idea; how to design a minimum viable product (MVP); and how to develop an MVP that solves problems customers are willing to pay for.
More information about Volta Academy, including how to apply, is available here.
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].