MINI CITY & THE SCADPRO FUND

From the Mini City Founder, India Hayes

Mini City received our first institutional investment from the SCADpro Fund! We are beyond honored and this pivotal moment reminds me why intentional relationships matter. 

I attended the 12 hour series of conversations hosted by Goodie Nation on Impact Stories + Intention. I want to share my own story on what intentionality, community, persistence and genuine presence can do for anyone. A key point that stuck out to me during the series is that milestones don’t occur overnight, and you never know whom is watching within your community.

The Mini City team won the REVOLT TV For the Culture Pitch in 2020, my brother and team member Herold Raymond urged me to apply with less than 12 hours to the deadline. “You never know what could happen…”

I am so glad we did. 

Joey Womack of Goodie Nation paired me with Austin Webster, due to us both being SCAD graduates. Austin was a phenomenal pitch coach and the founder of Deepr, meeting with our team every day during our practice week.  Herold pointed out that we had the same Alma Mater. Austin mentioned SCADpro had a fund, urged I apply and reach out to Ray Crowell. “You have to meet Ray. He really aims to empower diverse founders and you have a great vision, just reach out to him!"

Rewind to a year before going full time with Mini City. I was a designer at CNN, and spearheaded a fellowship program between our News Design team specifically for SCAD graduates. The SCADpro team and SCAD Alumni Center was pivotal in making it happen (Jeanette McWilliams, Bianca Townsend, Chrissy Terry, Ramsay Horn). I decided to go full time with my startup, but before leaving, kept hearing about a new hire named Ray. “He’s amazing— you have to meet him one day”

That day did happen, and I am grateful Ray believed in not only the vision of Mini City, but also a female founder that started her journey in being a creator, a problem solver, a-doer-rather-than-a-sayer at SCAD.

The Mini City team is honored to have SCADpro as our first institutional investor in 2020.

I’m grateful for the presence and relationships that SCAD builds, that don’t stop at a particular date, but continue onwards for a creative problem solver + inventor

I am grateful for the intentional dedication of founders that drive forces like Goodie Nation, who hosted those wild 24-hour hackathons and 6 month incubators in 2016 that not only led to the creation of Mini City, but Civic Dinners (Jenn Graham) and Goodr (Jasmine Crowe).

I can text, email, call each one of these aforementioned “connectors” and I am sure they would pick up!

I’ve always liked the quote luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. However, I am going to change it up a bit: we all know luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, fostered by community.

The Mini City Team