Community Impact

9B, a data and technology consulting company, became one of only a few Certified B Corps in Oklahoma.

Accelerated Spanish, a revolutionary Spanish fluency program, grew its team to 16 people across 8 countries, teaching over 3,000 students and earning over $1M in the last 2 years.

ACT House, a hub for cross-cultural collaboration, launched their Tulsa-based accelerator with 4 of their Cohort I companies raising and closing funding rounds.

Atento Capital launched on January 6 to provide pre-seed, seed, and potentially Series A capital to local startups. Thus far, they have invested $1 million in Televet, which is expanding to Tulsa, and $250k in Respondflow, which is relocating to Tulsa.

Tulsa-based investment firm, Atento Capital, launched and invested $20 million and launched 5 local programs in 2020: Tulsa Responds, Tulsa Service Year, Summer Tulsa, Build in Tulsa, inTulsa.

During its first year of operation and being a partner with 36ºN, Black Women Business Owners America raised over $20,000 to provide access to resources, information and people, hosted over 25 events, provided access to entrepreneurship spaces like 36ºN, launched two chapters in Oklahoma and created a network of over 700 black women entrepreneurs in the State of Oklahoma.

Boddle Learning announced its partnership with AT&T to launch a multi-player AR game, grew its user base to over 3M people, and closed a $2M seed round. Plus co-founder, Edna Martinson, was honored on the Forbes 30 under 30 list!

Boddle Learning and QuirkChat were selected as winners of Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition Initiative, receiving a total of $300,000 in seed funding.

Build in Tulsa launched Female Founders Pitch Night, a quarterly event where 36°N awards winners with scholarship money for membership.

Build in Tulsa supported 217 entrepreneurs through over 3,500 coaching hours and $283K in financial awards, pitch prizes, and housing/office assistance. In 2022, companies in the BIT network raised over $9M in funding.

Baker Lewis helped 51 businesses receive PPP loans for a total of $7,332,488, with loan sizes ranging from $1,958 to $884,855.

Boddle Learning, an online math platform for remote learning, reached over 50,000 students sign-ups across 50 states and 100 countries. The startup also secured national partnerships with Games and Learning and FirstBook.

Pastor of City Church Tulsa and 36°N member, Matt Nelson, released his book- The Beauty of the In-Between: finding God in the silence, the struggle, and the places in-between.

Cymone Davis received a NFL Social Justice Grant and used the funds to produce a song and music video titled “MORE MONEY”. The project was inspired by her beloved town, Tullahassee, making U.S. History and national news last year by joining the MORE Coalition (Mayors Organized for Reparations & Equity).

Cymone Davis made major strides in the development of building an international black boarding school by fundraising for the New School Revolution documentary, which will follow the process of starting the school in Oklahoma’s oldest historic black town.

Davenport Lofts, a boutique, mixed-use, high-rise project featuring ground-level retail and 32 residences, broke ground in the Tulsa Arts District.

EIC Rose Rock celebrated its official opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Located in the 36°N Incubator, Rose Rock's goal is to invest in innovative energy technology start-up companies, with a primary focus in energy transition, digital technologies, and sustainability.

Eleanor’s Bookshop is more than a children’s bookstore. Eleanor’s was designed with everyone in mind. It is a home for books about celebration, books about sadness, books with characters that look like you and books written in the languages that you speak. In 2019, Eleanor’s was chosen to join the new Shops at Mother Road Market. Their new storefront will open soon.

Our partners at Endeavor brought the ScaleUp program to Tulsa, working to accelerate the Heartland’s fastest-growing female-led startups. ScaleUp is e a four-month, non-dilutive program anchored around founder-to-founder mentor connections with growth-stage entrepreneurs in 7 U.S. cities.

Tulsa’s professional soccer team unveiled a new brand and image: FC Tulsa, with a mission to be an ambassador for the city of Tulsa.

FC Tulsa was awarded the Organization Boomtown Award, at the TYPROS 2020 Boomtown Awards, recognizing an organization who stands out by making Tulsa an awesome place for young professionals to live, work and play.

Felizsta opened their flagship storefront in Mother Road Market, which now operates as their shipping and operations space as well as a retail avenue for local customers to pick up freshly baked cookies and other latin inspired gifts.

Food on the Move, with the help of community partners, gave away over 3 million pounds of food to over half a million people. The program purchased more than $240,000 worth of meals from local restaurants, allowing them to pay staff and keep doors open.

Graham Collective, a local boutique featuring clean beauty, organic skincare, and nontoxic living products, was chosen to join the new Shops at Mother Road Market in a startup competition hosted by Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation. This will be Graham Collective’s first brick and mortar location.

Our partners at UMA Tulsa + Tulsa Tech celebrated the ribbon cutting of the Hispanic SBA. The initiative is focused on supporting Spanish-speaking small business owners by offering business classes in Spanish and building a close-knit community of small business owners, providing professional mentors, business services, and more

Holberton coding school opened their third US location in Downtown Tulsa providing a high-quality education with no upfront cost and launched 3 cohorts enrolling 100 students in the program.

Tulsa was named an Inc. Top 50 Cities for starting a business.

Tulsa was named an Inc. Top 50 Cities for starting a business

KiZE launched its Raw Energy Bar in over 1200 Walmart and 50 Target stores across the nation, with a portion of every sale going to support organizations that change lives.

In 2019, Koddi handled over $20 billion in transactions for customers worldwide, growing from 100 employees to 160+ employees.

Vondell Burns kicked off Let’s Launch, a virtual accelerator that helps aspiring and full-time creative entrepreneurs who are allowing imposter syndrome and the illusion of time to keep them from launching their creative projects.

Master of Memory company founder, Timothy Moser, published two new books in 2019 with the goal of helping students "learn fluent Spanish with a unique, groundbreaking approach”.

In 2019, Mozilla saw an increase in its Tulsa presence from 6 to 9 “Tulzillians”.

MetCares launched LevelUp, an initiative designed to disrupt the cycle of poverty in Tulsa by providing stipends and removing financial barriers for people looking to complete training programs and increase their earning potential.

In 2019, NEFF Brewing started a distribution program and began canning their own beer.

New U, a free personal and professional development coaching bootcamp, completed 6 English cohorts, 3 Spanish cohorts, and 1 College cohort- graduating 139 participants.

North Tulsa Complex launched its Youth Entrepreneurship Program, in partnership with Drexel Academy and 36 Degrees North. The program gives elementary-aged students the opportunity to be mentored by local Black and Lantinx entrepreneurs while working to create a simplified business plan.

OU I-CCEW created the Impact Academy, a COVID-response summer internship for 25 college students across 12 national universities which won the Boomtown People's Choice Award in November with 100% satisfaction and 40% return engagement.

Plant Seads moved product production to Oklahoma and landed their vertical gardening planters in 454 Walmart stores nationwide.

Periwinkle was featured on “Start-Up”, a PBS television series that travels from coast to coast interviewing small business owners to hear their fascinating personal stories and find out what it really takes to start a successful business from the ground up.

PhilanthrOK launched the Pathways to Philanthropy program, a two-year apprenticeship for Black, Indigenous, and people of color interested in pursuing a career in fundraising.

Rivet announced the launch of their first community, Keep It Local – Oklahoma. Rivet and KILO share a commitment to engage consumers and merchants with a digital banking and loyalty platform. Rivet provides an opportunity for people to be rewarded for eating, shopping and playing locally.

Running of the Bulls, the largest tour operator at the annual Running of the Bulls event in Pamplona, Spain, acquired two competitors’ websites and grew revenue by over 25%.

SMS-marketing software company, RespondFlow, secured $788,000 in funding and reached a milestone of over 8 million text messages sent through their platform.

Silhouette Sneakers & Art, a highly-curated retail experience focusing on limited, authentic sneakers, streetwear, and street- inspired art, opened its doors in the historic Greenwood District.

Trae Sjogren, kicked off Skill Fund, a 90-day cohort helping high school graduates learn a remote-friendly creative skillset and awarding each participant a $1K technology grant.

Soaak has provided over twelve million minutes of sound frequency therapy in over 34 countries and is the only mindfulness, mental health, and wellness company providing consumer and enterprise skills on Alexa-enabled devices.

StitchCrew launched its first accelerator cohort in Tulsa at 36ºN in the fall.

Cindy Belardo and Drew Jarvis, founders of Sunny Period, were featured in Fortune Magazine for leveraging their TikTok following to negotiate their pre-seed round.

Charity Marcus and Tyrance Billingsley launched The Business Hustle Radio Show on KBOB 89.9 FM which provides insight, resources, and special speakers on business, entrepreneurship, and economic development topics.

36°N members, Nathan Pickard and Molly Jones broke ground on The Joinery, a one-of-a-kind, fully sustainable home in Tulsa’s Brady Heights neighborhood.

Derek Webb is a co-founder of The Project Bar, which hosts go-at-your-own-pace craft-and-sip sessions at breweries around Tulsa. Though he never intended to start a business, the collaborative and entrepreneurial atmosphere of 36ºN led to the creation of The Project Bar.

Totem, a neobank focused on solving financial barriers to Native Americans, closed a $2.2M pre-seed round.

Tulsa Remote welcomed over 850 remote workers and entrepreneurs to Tulsa, bringing diverse, bright, and driven individuals to our city to build community, collaborate, and network.

Airbnb identified Tulsa as one of the top 20 remote worker-friendly destinations in the world, showcasing Tulsa Remote as a prominent example of how remote workers support local economic growth and innovation.

36°N Member, Rob Gardenhire, celebrated the groundbreaking of USA BMX’s national headquarters and arena in the Historic Greenwood District.

Volt (formerly RespondFlow) closed a $2.5M seed round to enable solving compliance for the next generation of telecom.

Woder, the fastest growing manufacturer of drinking water filters on Amazon, selected Tulsa as its US headquarters and bases sales and marketing support operations at 36°N.

In May 2019, Write On Fundraising signed the OKPOP Foundation’s statewide campaign to raise funds for Oklahoma’s first interactive pop culture museum. Since then, Write On has worked alongside the Oklahoma Historical Society to complete the first phase of the campaign and launch private fundraising for the multi-million dollar initiative.

Websites4Good launched a Foundation that will act as a grant-giving arm of their creative agency. The Foundation will help bridge the digital marketing gap for Black and Latinx founders and entrepreneurs.

i2E partnered with 7 of Tulsa’s most prominent Managing Partners to kick off Venture Capital School, a 4-part series covering the key aspects of becoming a VC.