The first participants have been selected to take part in a pilot acceleration program, the Creative Ventures Acceleration Program, developed by the Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3) to help boost the success of creative sector businesses in Detroit. The 17 participating business owners were introduced during a grand opening celebration of the DC3 Acceleration Studio on July 12 inside the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education in Detroit. Matthew Clayson, director of the DC3 says Creative Ventures is unlike any other business accelerator in the area because it was developed only for creative sector businesses. The firms chosen to participate in the pilot program are:
1. First Element Entertainment, a full-service film and video production house
2. Homeslice, a for-profit apparel design and manufacturing house striving to utilize methods that make a humanistic and ecological impact
3. coG-studio, an architectural design and service firm
4. PASSENGER Center for Contemporary Art, a creative cultural center, exhibition venue, and studio/residency program for artists
5. PTD Design, an architectural design firm
6. Left Bank Creative, which specializes in identity management, digital animation, web development and branding services
7. People of Detroit, whose mission it is to give voice to the positive, dynamic individuals that live in or have relationships with the city of Detroit
8. Detroit Lives!, a developer of engaging multimedia products and projects that push a new image of the city of Detroit
9. GAS Afterhours Productions, a film production company
10. Publicity Ink, a developer of ad copy, web content, press releases, newsletters and bios
11. Detroit Big F Deal, a crowd-funding platform that facilitates financial and volunteer contributions toward areas of social and civic need
12. Rippid, a source for helping businesses find freelance support and other resources
13. Will Do Designs, which provides public relations and image management consulting
14. Centric Design Studio, an organization that merges architecture and graphic design practices
15. Detroit Design Center, designers of sculpture and functional art
16. MASH, a media and lifestyle branding company with an emphasis on fusing fashion and design
17. PEDL, is a Detroit based tech start up providing new solutions in collaborative transit and peer to peer commerce
