Startup Accelerator for Utah Product Innovations

For Product Innovators

RAMP is startup accelerator for product innovators within the consumer products, outdoor recreation, manufacturing and other product industries

8 Week Program (One 3 Hr Classroom Per Week)

RAMP is an 8-week intensive mentoring and training course immersing innovators in a highly engaged and interactive learning experience with business mentors, manufacturing experts and topical specialists who have all built and scaled product companies.

Startup Funding

RAMP is one of the few accelerators that DOES NOT TAKE ANY EQUITY from your company! Furthermore, participants receive preferred consideration for follow-on funding from financial partners, investors and seed funds.

Welcome to RAMP – the premier startup accelerator for Utah product innovators. RAMP is an intensive mentoring and training accelerator, immersing innovators in a highly engaged and interactive learning experience with business mentors, advanced materials experts, manufacturing professionals, 3D print specialists and others who will help your company succeed- all without requiring any equity from you or your company!

Lean Launch – Innovators are assisted in each stage of the lean startup process by joining weekly training sessions supplemented by individualized consultation with industry mentors. Privileged use of state of the art labs and technical equipment for product prototyping and materials testing is included in RAMP.

Northern Utah- The Center of Advanced Manufacturing & Product Innovation – RAMP is hosted in Northern Utah- internationally recognized as the hub for advanced materials and manufacturing. Providing easy access to the state’s industry cluster, each RAMP participant joins a community rich in innovators, technologists, product designers and business leaders in Northern Utah.

Trustworthy Partners – RAMP is organized and operated by Grow Utah– a non-profit dedicated to accelerating Utah’s start-ups and innovators for over 15 years, and is a continuation of their LIFT Startup Accelerator run for many years. It is co-hosted and sponsored by UAMMI– Utah’s premier industry association for advanced materials and manufacturing, Weber State University MARS Center, the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the federal Small Business Administration

Current & Upcoming Cohorts

Mentors

T. Craig Bott

T. Craig Bott

President & CEO of Grow Utah / Former Dir of Ernst & Young Entreprenership Div

Brad Angus

Brad Angus

Former CEO of Setpoint USA / Investor

Brad has been a RAMP mentor for 5 years.  He is the founder of Snowbasin Equity Investments and recently retired as CEO of Setpoint Systems which was part of a roll-up of automation manufacturing companies sold to Hitachi. He has spent most of his career in the trenches with small to mid-sized businesses as CEO, President, CFO, and COO. He understands how to get and keep companies in the black by steering cash flow and EBITDA toward profitability.

As a nuts and bolts guy, he is ready to help businesses achieve their potential or turn around under-performance combining discipline and creativity in leadership; managerial, technical, functional skills; and strategic perspective to bring long-term growth and profitability. Through experience, he has learned how to settle down and standardize an organization’s operations to help it move forward.

Beirne Chisolm

Beirne Chisolm

Former Founder & President of Chisco/Chums/Beyond Costal

David Rupp

David Rupp

Product Designer/Engineer & Founder of COAXED Composites

Andrew Deceuster

Andrew Deceuster

Associate Professor, Outdoor Product and Design Program at USU

Andrew Deceuster, PhD., brings both the practical engineering and product design insight to the RAMP members as well as the advanced methods of additive manufacturing. His work at an archery company included machining the prototypes on the CNC machine, making design revisions based on feedback and used rapid prototyping to print models to achieve the desired ergonomics for custom releases. He has industry experience in developing welding procedures for aerospace structural casting and has researched new welding methods to improve production and eliminate scrap. He is certified to weld on stainless steels, nickel based superalloys pre/post hip.

Andrew’s interests are in the design and prototyping arenas and helping innovators gain these valuable skill sets. He enjoys solving production problems such as: additive manufacturing, welding, thermal processing, mechanical design, and industrial design.

Justin Bott

Justin Bott

VP of Marketing / Startup Program Development

Justin Bott has been integral part of Grow Utah and its mentor initiatives from some 20 years. He specializes in marketing strategies including leveraging social media for product positioning and lead generation. He’s mentored over 100 startup companies within the Utah entrepreneur ecosystem.

Justin currently serves as the Vice President of Marketing for a SaaS manufacturing software company where he has created and built the entire suite of marketing assetts, channel development, lead generation programs, website marketing, channel partner program, social marketing and more.

Videos

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RAMP Sponsors & Hosts

HOSTS

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SPONSORS/ MENTORS

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