In the early days of Mavenlink, the company was just three guys in CEO Ray Grainger’s home office. Since founding the company in the midst of a recession, the company has grown immensely. Today, Mavenlink is made up of more than 350 employees globally, many of whom call California’s Orange County home. Without the local tech community to help guide Mavenlink in its early days, it would have been difficult to launch the company onto its current trajectory.
Organizations operating in today’s business environment still require a strong network to grow and survive. This is especially true for startups and young companies trying to find their footing in crowded industries. It is difficult to rise above the competition without a community to turn to for advice, potential partnerships, or other business relationships.
With this truth in mind, we want to thank Octane for supporting Mavenlink and hundreds of other Orange County businesses on our journey to success, for convening the Southern California technology and medical technology business ecosystem, and for its accelerator program, LaunchPad.
LaunchPad boasts more than 600 successful alumni organizations since 2010 and an 86% funding rate. Its companies have raised more than $2.4 billion of capital and have created 10,000 jobs. Octane understands what it means for startups to have a strong network and has succeeded in expanding the tech ecosystem in Orange County.
We are indebted to Octane and the strong ties it has formed with the Orange County community over the years. Mavenlink is an alumnus of LaunchPad, a long-standing relationship that has helped Mavenlink develop its own strong community, recruit individuals, and acquire new customers.
Back in 2009, Mavenlink was one of the first groups to go through the LaunchPad process. Octane helped us hone our overall presentation and funding readiness as we worked through investor decks and polished our business plan. Octane secured introductions to venture capitalists and early investors and even enabled Mavenlink to participate in its TIF conference, which ultimately led to some early customers.
All successful relationships go two ways and Mavenlink is proud to have been able to offer feedback on the early LaunchPad process. We also provided Octane with Mavenlink’s platform to help LaunchPad manage tasks, share documents, and develop company reviews.
Since 2009, we’ve continued our strong partnership with Octane:
Today, Mavenlink continues to offer a mentorship program for companies going through the LaunchPad process and recommends other companies to LaunchPad.
Mavenlink is a company built on a foundation of networks and the idea that organizations can achieve their goals faster if they form strong bonds within their communities. Thank you to Octane and its LaunchPad accelerator for continuing to be a strong pillar of the Orange County business community. We wouldn’t be here without you.