Our Impact
2025 ANNUAL REPORT
2025 marked an exciting chapter in our mission to advance social innovation and support purpose-driven founders. From hands-on problem solving to founder coaching and storytelling, our programs brought together entrepreneurs, volunteers, and community partners to create meaningful, measurable impact.
In 2025 alone:
The Elevate Impact Accelerator supported five founders, 100% women and 80% BIPOC
The Innovation Lab: Pave the Way, with the City of Cincinnati, engaged 68 applicants, 24 solvers, and 13 teams, with 80% saying they would participate again
The On the Fly Podcast released 21 episodes, reaching listeners in 14 countries
245 people connected across four community events focused on social innovation
Read more about these activities as well as our 10-Year Accelerator Impact Report below:
ELEVATING ENTERPRISE
This year, we proudly celebrated the 10th year of Flywheel Accelerators, our nine-week founder coaching program supported by dozens of volunteer business coaches and mentors. This milestone year featured a record-breaking Elevate Impact Demo Day featuring the graduation of five impact-driven startup founders in July, and culminated in a holiday celebration that reunited alumni, coaches, and Philanthropreneurs. Learn more about the incredible impact this program has created over the last decade below in By The Numbers.
SOCIAL INNOVATION IN ACTION
2025 marked our second Social Innovation Lab partnering with The City of Cincinnati, Pave the Way!, tackling our city’s pothole problem and demonstrating how cross-sector collaboration can address real civic challenges. 68 applicants were narrowed to 13 teams and 24 solvers who developed solutions over the course of week of guided innovation. 5 Finalists were selected to present in front of City Officials and community changemakers on Demo Day. 80% reported they would participate in a future lab.
City of Cincinnati Council Member Evan Nolan speaks to audience and participants of the Pave The Way! Social Innovation Lab at 1819 Innovation Hub.
VOICES THAT EDUCATE AND INSPIRE
2025 also saw the launch of the On the Fly! Podcast, now live on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, amplifying founder voices and local solutions beyond our walls. Launched in June, On The Fly! has released 21 episodes and has had 684 downloads across 14 countries. This October at StartupCincy Week, we celebrated with a live recording and networking event, where attendees could learn about social enterprise, Flywheel’s history and mission, and see an episode produced in real-time. Produced by Joan Kaup and Joey Scarillo, On The Fly! is just one of the evergreen resources Flywheel is investing in to support social entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey.
Jenny Powell, City Councilmember Evan Nolan, Samuel Baker, Joey Scarillo, and Joan Kaup record a live episode of On The Fly! at Startup Cincy Week.
BY THE NUMBERS
10 YEARS OF FLYWHEEL ACCELERATORS = LASTING IMPACT
Flywheel has equipped 67 social enterprises with the tools & skills needed to build and scale — 80% of which are still operating today.
Across 10 years of Elevator, Elevate Equity, and Sustainable Cincy Accelerators
30 Coaches
68 Program Contributors
5268 Coaching and Consulting Hours
Our founders have elevated their stories to 2,198 people at 246 community- building events.
double bottom line RESULTS
Over $9 million in follow-on investments
43% of investments returned
697 jobs* created
** Reflects the total number of full-time equivalent roles supported (for at least a year, in aggregate) by Flywheel portfolio companies over the reporting period. This speaks to employment sustainability over time.
68% of our founders are women and 51% are people of color
our enterprises are impacting
our enterprises are strengthening the community
WiProsper
Taking bootstrapping to a new level, WiProsper is the first and only platform crowd-investing the growth of the Black Owned Business economy.
Workforce Connection
Workforce Connection provides on-site job coaching and other services to help frontline employees in high-turnover industries retain their jobs and increase the economic stability of their families.
Ecoshell
Ecoshell™ turns food waste into a filler that can reduce up to 50% of plastic, making products of excellent quality that can be reused indefinitely, and making end products that are fully recyclable.
The Empower Group
The Empower Group sees a solution to both the labor shortage in manufacturing and the lack of fair-chance employment opportunities for returning citizens.
Ellequate
Powered by data and inspired by people, Ellequate gives employers the insights and tools they need to make evidence-based decisions to help their employees thrive—providing a competitive advantage in their race to the top.
Brewhaus Dog Bones
Brewhaus Dog Bones employs young adults with disabilities to make healthy pet treats, made from spent grains produced at local breweries.
All-In Cincinnati
Addressing systemic racism and inequities isn’t easy, and broad-based coalitions are necessary. All-In Cincinnati provides toolkits and onboarding solutions for communities around education, policy change, and community action.
Possip
During the COVID-19 crisis Possip has been able to grow by helping schools communicate closure information and helping to fully meet families’ needs.
Found Village
Found Village partners with schools, family services agencies, and behavioral health centers to provide wraparound services and sponsored opportunities for community engagement for at-risk teens.