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.

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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

Last Mile Food Rescue

Last Mile Food Rescue reimagining logistics to eliminate waste and hunger. Today, they are engaging over 700 volunteers to rescue more that 10 million pounds of food annually.

Cincinnati Works

Cincinnati Works (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.

Other Supported Startups:

La Soupe

Sew Valley

Brick Gardens

B the Keeper

Community Happens Here

Cindependent

Cincinnati Recycle & Reuse Hub

Black Career Women’s Network

First Generation Leaders of America

The Hive

The STEM Lab

Portaluca (Dress for Success)

A.A.R.O.N. Wearables

Soul Care

Cocoon Technologies

Event Map Studio

Gotara

Edith Institute

Prtty Pckup

Early Affirmation Dolls

In Fly We Trust

WiProsper

The Great Adventures at Park Clinic

Fearless Beauty (Fatherless to Fearless)

Sunflower Fuels

Cleanup Collective

Intersect AG

Greenway Innovations

ModFab

Uplift 5

Sprout

Carbon Harvest

Blue Ocean Solids

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.