[Editor’s Note: Due to confidentiality purposes, this article was pulled from the website after an earlier publication. The Iowa Accelerator Program is now over, but we wanted to re-publish to celebrate Courtny’s initiative. A follow-up article on the experience will be coming soon!]
Courtny Evanson, 24, creator of InnovativeMother, was not only accepted into Iowa’s Startup Pre-Accelerator Program on June 4, but also received “some of the highest marks,” according to an acceptance e-mail from Program Manager David Tominsky. InnovativeMother is now among 30 startups who took their work to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a free program from June 16 – July 2.
“Words cannot describe how grateful I am for this opportunity,” Evanson said. 
Of the 30 participating finalists, ten will move on to participate in a 90-day Accelerator Program, which includes a 20K investment, working with 130 top-notch mentors, and a final launch day to an audience of investors.
“It would get InnovativeMother off the ground and launched,” Evanson said.
Thanks Johnny Mach
Evanson said she initially was encouraged to apply to an accelerator program by John Machacek, Senior Vice President of Finance and Entrepreneurial Development at the EDC. She chose to apply to Iowa’s program because it had a similar energy to that of Fargo.
“I like Iowa the most for what they stood for,” she said. “They’re looking to create a community like Fargo.”
Now, she said, she is busy preparing her pitch to give at the beginning of the program.
It’s a striking difference from a little over a year ago, when Evanson had never publicly given a speech before.
From 0 – 100 MPH
It wasn’t until the first Women’s Startup Weekend in 2014 that she decided, shakily, to get on stage and share her idea for a breast pump massage table. It came from her own needs; as a new mom, she experienced first hand the discomfort of breast-pumping, especially the awkwardness of having to do so in a work environment.
“[InnovativeMother] creates a safe secure place to go and pump and not feel awkward, or feel ashamed at what they [mothers] are doing,” she said. “A lot of mothers want to quit, because it’s so hard to go to work and pump. With InnovativeMother, we’re taking some steps forward to normalizing breastfeeding.”
That weekend, InnovativeMother won first place. In 54 hours, Evanson was now the founder of her own startup.
Since then, she has given 16 speeches presenting Innovative Mother. She’s presented in front of hundreds of people at 1 Million Cups Fargo, Bismarck, and Grand Forks, to investors for Innovate ND and TBEG grants, at a Baby Fair that she organized, and as a keynote at this year’s Women’s Startup Weekend. She gave a speech at Emerging Prairie’s 1 Million Thanks event, where she was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year.
Shark Tank and beyond
Recently, upon hearing that the hit ABC show Shark Tank was looking for North Dakota entrepreneurs, Evanson drove last minute to Minneapolis to pitch there, too. It resulted in a sleepless night, waiting 3 hours to register, and then another 4 hours, to pitch for 60 seconds – all in 6 inch heels, mind you. 
“It was a good experience though,” Evanson said with a laugh. “There were 6 producers you pitched to, and it was very laid back.”
Although she hasn’t heard anything from them yet – and acknowledges that only 160 are chosen out of 40,000 applicants – Evanson said if she can get her business launched this year, she will go back and try again.
Her current goal is to build her business model through this pre-accelerator program in Iowa, with the hope of getting funding and support through the 90-day Accelerator program as well. She hopes to get enough funding to have an InnovativeMother prototype done within the next year.
Long-term, she hopes to build her own manufacturing plant, and eventually, her own store.
“A lot of people think I can’t do it,” she said. “But I’m 24 years old, I’m young, I have my whole life ahead of me. I might as well shoot for the stars.”
Photos courtesy of Courtny Evanson.
