When Robert “Chip” F. Andrews III and his wife Lyn first committed $1 million to NC State in 2016, the goal was straightforward: give talented students with big ideas the resources to actually build something.

As the Andrews Launch Accelerator (ALA) marks its 10th anniversary, the couple is doubling down, announcing a new $1 million gift on Day of Giving to establish an endowment that will fund the program in perpetuity.

For Chip Andrews, who earned his B.A. in economics from NC State in 1966, the decision to give again wasn’t complicated. The numbers made the case on their own.

Since 2016, the ALA has worked with 49 companies and more than 250 people, distributing $476,500 in equity-free seed capital to participating teams. Those teams then attracted more than $44 million in outside investment.

“Our funding has helped, but they are proving themselves in the marketplace,” Andrews says. “That’s what this was always about.”

The program carries a 65 percent company survival rate, a figure Andrews notes with satisfaction.

“You have an idea or a concept, and 65 percent of them are making something happen,” he says. “That’s meaningful.”

From Operating Grant to Endowment

The Andrews’ original gift served as an operating grant, and it has been supplemented over time by contributions from other donors. With significant funds still remaining and years of distributions ahead, Andrews said he and Lyn wanted to take it one step further with this new gift.

“We wanted to create an endowment,” he says. “That will create earnings on its own to provide for future annual funding for the Andrews Launch Accelerator.”

Andrews is quick to note that the accelerator’s success has never been solely about his family’s investment.

“It’s not just about what Lyn and I are doing,” he says. “Poole provides extensive support. Haley Huie, the director of the Entrepreneurship Clinic, and Josh Guter, the program manager, have both been exceptional stewards for the ALA. Without their support, it really couldn’t work.”

He also singled out the Wilson College of Textiles as a particularly active partner, reflecting the university-wide reach the program has developed.

The Making of a Mentor

Chip Andrews takes a hands-on approach to the ALA, and brings decades of expertise to the table. After graduating from NC State, he joined FMI Corporation, a management consulting and investment banking firm serving the international engineering and construction industries, where he became chairman and CEO before retiring in 2014. Today he serves as managing partner of Andrews Ventures LLC, which oversees family investments in startups, real estate and other business opportunities. 

He has remained heavily involved at NC State as well, in roles from serving on the Graduate School Advisory Board to Poole’s Advisory Board, and including two terms on the NC State University Board of Trustees. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the NC State Endowment Fund. 

Working with hundreds of companies over his long career gives Andrews a unique vantage point.

“As a consultant, you’re not just giving guidance and advice, customers are also telling you what they’re doing in operations and strategy,” he says. “You’re teaching but also learning from them.”

“I’ve seen lots of successful companies in my career and want to help others find a successful path along the way.”

The ALA: 10 Years In

A decade in, the ALA is as much about learning and mentorship as it is about the entrepreneurial journey. Students learn in a cohort setting, they work through business development milestones, and they dive deep into understanding the customers they’ll serve. Becoming storytellers is also at the heart of the program, Andrews says.

“When people come to the accelerator, they’re asked to describe their opportunity,” he says. “Sometimes they don’t know how to tell a story.

“We work a lot on that — you have to be able to get people excited about what you’re doing.”

The program moves participants through customer orientation, pushing them well beyond the handful of conversations most founders think constitutes market research to have hundreds of customer conversations. They move then into product development, legal and accounting fundamentals, go-to-market strategy, and fundraising and investor readiness.

Andrews can rattle off success stories in a way that’s clear he is someone who has watched them unfold up close.

CN Seamless, a hardware startup built around portable fabrication machines, began as a senior design project before its founders recognized they had a real business on their hands. They’ve since scaled internationally. An introduction through the ALA connected them with an investor who became a lasting advisor.

“They said hearing from different experts in sales, product development, and business gave them entirely new perspectives,” Andrews recalls.

321 Coffee, founded by NC State students Lindsay Wrege and Michael Evans began working with the ALA in 2020. The company, a coffee shop and roaster that employs adults with disabilities, now has more than 50 employees and corporate partnerships with companies like Whole Foods.

Another startup focused on South Asian fashion — formal wear for weddings and celebrations that American customers couldn’t find domestically — was forced to completely reinvent itself when COVID eliminated many of those events for a while, Andrews says. Understanding how to pivot is another vital step in the process, he notes.

And Casalu, a rum-based hard seltzer brand celebrating Latino culture, was founded by Gabriel González, who had previously worked as an ALA administrator before deciding to become an entrepreneur himself.

“Gabe is building a successful enterprise, one learning step at a time,” Andrews says.

The Andrews’ “Why”

The Andrews’ decision to give this latest gift is about their long-time support for NC State, and about Chip Andrews’ passion for entrepreneurship following a career spent watching ideas sprout into businesses that then learned to grow.

He also recognizes the value of the ALA is about lessons learned and carried forward. Some of these entrepreneurs may end up in other industries where they’ll bring valuable experience and knowledge.

“These participants learn a lot about turning an idea into profitable revenue,” he says. “That’s what hiring companies are looking for — people who go through the ALA are much more valuable candidates for jobs they may pursue.”

To other alumni considering their own involvement, financial or otherwise, Andrews offers simple advice: show up.

“Get involved, learn from your peers, interact with the dean or the chancellor or professors,” he says “You don’t have to know what you want to do, just be there, understand what their challenges are, and find where you can help.”