CFG Bank commits $500K to Novella Center through partnership

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The Novella Center for Entrepreneurship has secured support for its Conscious Venture Lab Accelerator Program through a four-year, $500,000 partnership with CFG Bank, the Baltimore nonprofit announced May 12. 

The monetary commitment from CFG Bank marks one of the largest corporate investments the Novella Center has received, according to a release, which says the nonprofit will also launch its CVL Pre-Accelerator in Baltimore this fall. 

The $500,000 investment serves as seed money for the new Pre-Accelerator, a program designed to provide early-stage Baltimore founders with structured preparation, mentorship and business fundamentals before they apply to the full CVL cohort accelerator.

CFG Bank’s board of directors are discussing the expansion capital access for Baltimore’s diverse founders, which Built In defines as “someone who has an idea for a business or product and transforms that idea into a company” – not to be confused with entrepreneur.

“CFG Bank thinks like an entrepreneur and invests like a community partner,” Novella Center founder and CEO Jeff Cherry said in a statement.

“Their support lets us do the high-touch, important work of preparing Baltimore founders not only for capital, but also to expose them to the theories of stakeholder capitalism, and how practicing business differently generates more durable value. This will continue to help us build a pipeline into the future of Baltimore’s economy.”

Novella Center’s new pre-accelerator, follows a pilot that the nonprofit ran in Trenton, N.J., this spring. According to a release, program leadership expects the pre-accelerator to expand the pool of Baltimore-based founders ready for investment.

Since its founding in 2023, Novella Center has supported more than 200 early-stage companies through its accelerator programs, a release says.

Headquartered in Baltimore, CFG provides financing and online banking solutions with a focus on the healthcare and multifamily industries, and the Mid-Atlantic commercial banking market.