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WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With small businesses and nonprofits reporting healthy cash flow and high revenue expectations, the time is ripe for entrepreneurs and startups developing solutions for small organizations to take the next step. Today, Constant Contact^®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) announced that four such startups have been selected for the inaugural class of its Small Business Innovation Program, a four-month accelerator designed to support entrepreneurs working to scale their solutions for small businesses and nonprofits.

Running from July 1 through October 31 and hosted in the brand-new 30,000 square foot Innovation Loft (InnoLoft) space in Constant Contact’s Waltham headquarters, the inaugural startup class includes:

• mosaicHUB: A B2B community marketplace, mosaicHUB connects small businesses with experts they need to grow, including marketing, legal and social media experts. The company was founded by Mary-Alice Miller, who was recently named to both Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and Mass High Tech’s “20 Women to Watch.”
• OmniLync: OmniLync gives small businesses friction-free access to point-of-sale data, enabling small businesses to more easily deploy effective marketing campaigns and gain greater customer insights. The company is founded by entrepreneurs Paul Schaut, Andre Arzumanyan, and David Arzumanyan.
• Sidewalk: Founded by Mo Yehia and Tony Amoyal, Sidewalk uses social data to predict which small businesses are most in need of technology solutions and when. Sidewalk unites the right technology providers with small businesses looking to grow their business.
• The High Bar: The High Bar offers a custom-built SaaS solution called “Board on Track,” designed to help nonprofit boards better engage with board members and more effectively manage key systems and processes. The company is founded by charter school governance expert Marci Cornell-Feist.

“The Innovation Program’s inaugural class covers the spectrum of the small business landscape, with solutions ranging from hardware to community marketplaces and offerings targeted at B2Bs, B2Cs, and nonprofits,” said Andy Miller, chief innovation architect at Constant Contact. “Now, the real fun begins. We can’t wait to have these entrepreneurs join us in the same collaborative space and share the power of Constant Contact’s resources and small business expertise with them.”

In addition to the InnoLoft office space, the Small Business Innovation Program provides participants with mentoring from marketing and technology experts as well as access to members of the Angel and venture communities. Participants will also receive $10,000 to spend on marketing activities and priority access to Constant Contact’s AppConnect integration team. Constant Contact is taking no equity in any of the startups.

“We have always seen Constant Contact as an inspiration in terms of a company helping small businesses, and now we get to learn directly from the best,” said Mary-Alice Miller, founder and CEO of mosiacHUB. “From advice on building our technology to learning how to engage our current customers, we are looking forward to the host of opportunities the Small Business Innovation Program will afford us.”

The four startups were selected from more than 100 applicants and chosen by a panel of judges including both Constant Contact executives and external experts from the startup community. For the first round of applicants, the external judges were Maia Heymann, senior managing director at CommonAngels and Bill McCullen, director at LaunchCapital.

The inaugural class follows a successful pilot program that ran through the spring. Designed to assess the Innovation Program for startups at different stages of development, the pilot consisted of three companies: social media management tool MarketMeSuite; content management tool Shareist; and, most recently, HourlyNerd, a service connecting MBAs with small businesses seeking advice in all areas of running a company. HourlyNerd’s tenure in the pilot began in June.

For more information and to apply for future classes of the Small Business Innovation Program, please visit http://smbinnoloft.com/ and follow #SMBInnoLoft on Twitter.

About Constant Contact®, Inc.

Constant Contact helps small businesses do more business. We have been revolutionizing the success formula for small businesses, nonprofits, and associations since 1998, and today work with more than 600,000 customers worldwide. The company offers the only all-in-one online marketing platform that helps small businesses drive repeat business and find new customers. It features multi-channel marketing campaigns (newsletters/announcements, offers/promotions, online listings, events/registration, and feedback) combined with shared content, contacts, and reporting; free award-winning coaching and product support; and integrations with critical business tools – all from a single login. The company’s extensive network of educators, consultants/resellers, technology providers, franchises, and national associations offer further support to help small organizations succeed and grow. Through its Innovation Loft, Constant Contact is fueling the next generation of small business technology.

Constant Contact and the Constant Contact Logo are registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All Constant Contact product names and other brand names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

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