Latest news with #InnovationStudios
Business Journals
25-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Hack.Diversity to cease operations after final cohort
After almost 10 years of working to diversify the Boston tech startup workforce, the nonprofit plans to shut down this summer. Story Highlights The tech diversity nonprofit will shut down Aug. 30. Declining partnerships and internships led to financial challenges for Over 600 fellows graduated, with 80% securing high-paying tech jobs. After almost 10 years of working to diversify the Boston tech startup workforce, plans to shut down this summer. The nonprofit dedicated to boosting diversity in tech startups said its current cohort would continue as planned, but that it would not be enrolling any additional cohorts afterward and will cease operations on Aug. 30. The closure of marks the loss of another pivotal resource for the Boston tech ecosystem, coming a week after Innovation Studios, the nonprofit co-working space provider with studios in Boston and Roxbury, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. The Roxbury location of Innovation Studios specifically catered to programs for entrepreneurs and founders of color. Now, with the loss of diverse startup founders will have fewer opportunities and resources available, making it harder to break into a crowded tech ecosystem. The closure is coming during a time when diversity initiatives across the United States, including those in Boston, are facing scrutiny and criticism from the federal government. According to co-founder and board member Jeff Bussgang, the nonprofit began preparing for the potential attack on diversity last year, changing the language around DEI and emphasizing overall excellence instead. Sign up for The Beat, BostInno's free daily innovation newsletter. See past examples here. Fellowships provided by were primarily funded through partnerships with companies, as well as grants and contributions. As AI tools continue to advance, Bussgang says there's a decreasing need for entry-level coding positions. Coding AI tools have improved so significantly in helping engineers write and adjust code, to the point where 95% of the code in one quarter of Y Combinator startups was written by AI, according to Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan. Bussgang and the board at decided that there was no clear path forward for into 2026. 'The best junior engineers are going to be those that figure out how to leverage the tools to self-teach, which potentially exacerbates the access problem and the diversity problem in the industry,' Bussgang said. 'Because people who are going to have those tools might be the ones that have the resources and the influences around them because they're raised in the ecosystem.' The nonprofit dropped from 30 partner companies to 18 within the last couple of years, as more companies dropped internship positions altogether, Michelle De La Isla, the current CEO of told The Business Journal. According to De La Isla, fewer partnerships result in fewer internships, and fewer internships have a direct impact on funding. "That was what really impacted us. Our philanthropic partners are incredible, but HACC doesn't work without internships, host companies or jobs for the fellows," De La Isla said. expand Michelle De La Isla, new CEO of Gary Higgins / Boston Business Journal The nonprofit faced financial challenges last year after it announced that it would cut eight jobs as part of a restructuring due to budgetary restraints. According to its 2024 impact report, the nonprofit operated at a loss of $440,000 in 2024, compared to a net income of $200,000 the previous year, as reported by Pro Publica. has undergone a series of changes since it spun out of the New England Venture Capital Association. Jody Rose, who served as NEVCA's president and co-founder of stepped down from her role within a year, and Michell De La Isla, the former Mayor of Topeka, Kansas, stepped into the role as CEO in 2023. The nonprofit was originally founded in 2016 with the mission to connect talented STEM students of color with strong companies in Greater Boston in the hope of dismantling the barriers between the local innovation economy and the Black and Latino communities. also conducts racial equity, diversity and inclusion training at partner companies. In pursuit of helping Black and Latino communities, conducted a fellowship program to help underrepresented tech workers secure internships at companies seeking to diversify their workforce. During its 10 years in operation, the nonprofit graduated over 600 fellows who have been placed at more than 30 companies. Despite the closure of Bussgang said the New England Venture Capital Association will maintain the alumni network and Slack channels for alumni to continue to network and share resources. According to De La Isla, over 80% of alumni who were not returning to school after the fellowship ended up getting hired at the end of their fellowship. The average salary for the program's alumni averaged between $115,000 and $150,000. "At this point in time, the organization of may be ceasing operations after this cohort, but the spirit of Hack lives in every single one of the fellows that we've been able to serve," De La Isla said "To keep Hack alive and to pay for all the goodness that they received, it is their opportunity to now open doors for others. And if they carry that on, Hack will live on, because Hack lives through them."
Miami Herald
18-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Key service provider files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, plans liquidation
Before the Covid pandemic, most Americans who held white-collar jobs went into an office. My offices offered more flexibility than others, but in general, the majority of people went to a physical location. There wasn't actually a lot of debate about whether working from home was a good idea. That's at least partially because many companies had invested significant dollars in leasing or buying offices. Related: Struggling whiskey company closes operations, no bankruptcy yet Working from home was more common in the startup space. Some fledgling companies realized it made little sense to spend their money on an office rather than on people who could push their product or service forward. Still, even as more companies decided they did not need permanent office space, many still wanted a place to get together. That led to the rise of the coworking space. Coworking can look a number of different ways. In some cases, a company rents a space that serves as a de facto office. In other situations, a company may pay for a floating desk, so that a few workers, or even just one, can come into a physical place and use the shared facilities. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Most of these spaces offered conference rooms that can be booked by the hour as well as private spaces for phone calls or small meetings. Many also had amenities like fancy coffee bars and even beer and wine service. The pandemic, as you might imagine, was devastating for this type of business. People not only questioned the idea of offices in general, but they also simply did not want to be around other people. That led to the collapse, bankruptcy, and eventual reemergence of the biggest player in the space, WeWork. Now, another cowork pioneer with a noble mission has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. While WeWork made the idea of coworking famous, it also showed the model's dangers. Put simply, you need enough customers to cover your overhead, or it's irrelevant that you offer fancy coffee service and have Pizza Wednesday. That brand flamed out because it grew too fast, overestimated demand, and then ran face-first into the pandemic. More bankruptcies: Popular restaurant and bar chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular athletic shoe chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcyAward-winning cosmetics brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy You can't really plan to be a business based on people coming into a physical location during a pandemic, which forces people to stay away from each other. Nobody saw Covid coming, and it devastated companies with much deeper histories than WeWork. The Covid pandemic wasn't the only reason WeWork collapsed - there was plenty of greed and hubris involved, too. Yet now, even a coworking company built from noble intent has also failed. Innovation Studios, a multi-location coworking space company in Boston, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on April 8. It was a voluntary filing by the nonprofit entity. The company shared on its website a simple mission: "Make Innovation, entrepreneurship, and business ownership attainable through an empowering and inclusive network of community spaces and individualized pathways." Related: Popular beer brand shuts down brewery, lays off employees Innovation Studios also shared a vision statement: "Be the home where aspiring individuals are encouraged to confidently grow their ideas into successful businesses." Those efforts have come to an abrupt halt. Innovation Studios' Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing showed that it had assets in the range of $0-$100,000 with liabilities in the range of $100,001-$1,000,000. The company also shared that it has 1-40 credits and that it does not expect there will be sufficient assets in the estate to make a payment to the unsecured creditors. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
