We introduced the Google News Initiative Startups Boot Camp in January 2022 to help job seekers entrepreneurs develop their ideas for independent news organizations. Now, we are thrilled to announce that all 24 are ready to launch.
The remarkable founders behind these projects undertook an intense, eight-week boot camp to immerse themselves in the wild and worthy world of media entrepreneurship. Under the guidance of Boot Camp Director Phillip Smith, they put in long hours (often on top of day jobs) to research their target audiences, model out potential revenue and set goals around early growth. They tested ideas, embraced change, gained insight and made pivots — all with the goal of serving their audiences with impactful journalism.
“We embraced the idea early on that we were going to encourage participants to accomplish more than they believed was possible, and faster than they believed it could be done,” Smith said. “It was a big risk and, given where each of the projects is today, I believe it was one of the best decisions we could have made.”
Founders left the bootcamp with a clearer path forward, a renewed sense of possibility and access to apply for GNI funding to advance the next steps in their entrepreneurial journey. We’ll announce plans for future boot camps next year.
“The bold offerings that developed during the GNI Startups Boot Camp reinforce the bright possibilities for news entrepreneurs to engage communities and build business models in new ways,” said Ben Monnie, Google’s director of global partnerships solutions for news. “I look forward to following how the participants continue to meet unmet information needs and contribute to building a more sustainable future for digital journalism.”
Please join us in celebrating (and supporting!) the graduates of the inaugural GNI Startups Boot Camp. We’re incredibly inspired by their work.
