Launch Chapel Hill Adds Staff before 7th Cohort

That changed this summer with the addition of two UNC Chapel Hill alumni to the team running the business-building programming. Callie Brauel and Stefano Rivera, both UNC alumni, join Dina Rousset to update the curriculum based on Disciplined Entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet. 

Neither is new to the entrepreneurial hustle. Brauel is the co-founder of a social venture, ABAN, that focuses on capacity building and environmental improvement. Rivera worked with recently-acquired Relay Foods. They bring their own experience to bear on reimagining the resources and support they will offer companies in Launch’s seventh cohort. 

“We look forward to continuing to help businesses grow and promote positive change in Chapel Hill, Orange County and the Triangle,” says Rousset, Associate Director at Kenan-Flagler’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and Launch’s Director. 

Rivera, who splits his duties between Launch and the student-centric shared workspace at 1789, says that the program aims to build deeper infrastructure to keep young companies in Chapel Hill. 

Unlike strictly for-profit investment-bearing programs or NC IDEA’s grants, Launch admits non-profits along with for-profits. 

“We believe this mix of ventures allows our members to learn from each other and collaborate across industries,” says Rousset. 

That mix has included companies like Tom & Jenny’s, Seal the Seasons, UConnect, Impulsonic, and LineHire. 

Brauel and Rivera are currently retooling Launch’s programming to deploy with the next cohort of companies, who will be chosen in the next 6 weeks. 

Applications are live on Launch’s website for this 7th iteration of the program through November 20. The new cohort will begin January 16, 2017.