Programs · Cohorts & Competitions
Ignite Appalachia
The Hub’s six-week entrepreneurship boot camp — sharpen an idea, build it with coaches and mentors, and pitch it live at the competition that closes the program.
The program
Ignite Portsmouth is the region’s catalyst for new business. Whether you’re starting from a napkin sketch, running a young company, or planning an expansion, the boot camp walks you from business model to market analysis to financials — with coaches and mentors at every step.
It ends the way Portsmouth now expects: a live pitch competition where the community shows up, judges lean in, and winners leave with momentum. Ignite alumni are running storefronts and companies across the region today.
Turn an idea into a business, in six weeks
Fall 2026 schedule
Six Tuesdays, one pitch night
Entrepreneurship 101 & Business Model Canvas
Map the whole business on one page and find the assumptions to test.
Marketing, Branding & Pitch Arts
Tell the story — to customers, and to a room full of judges.
Customer & Market Analysis
Who buys, why they buy, and how big the opportunity really is.
Mentor Workshops & Pitch Practice
Reps with mentors until the pitch is tight.
Business Financials & Legal Compliance
The numbers and the paperwork that keep a business alive.
Pitch Competition
Pitch live to judges and the community. Winners take home prizes; every founder leaves sharper.
Alumni
Ignite businesses you already know
Michelle Martin turned a bookstore dream into a downtown reality.
Edwin and Jennifer Martell built their business out of the 2024 cohort.
Audra Popovich took first place at Ignite Appalachia — and kept going.
“Don’t hesitate. If you have an idea, you are capable of great things. The Ignite team will fill you with confidence and give you the support you need to succeed.”