Omaha 100, a community development financial institution based in North Omaha, has begun a partnership with BootUp Studio to provide free artificial intelligence tools to local businesses. Applications will be accepted until noon on June 12, with 100 spots available for the first year of the two-year pilot.
“We just want to help people move faster and more efficiently,” said Chandler Malone, co-founder and CEO of Miami-based startup Bootup Studio. “The thought process is that if we can leverage AI to help[companies]they have a better chance of building something that works.”
For Omaha 100, the partnership with Bootup is part of a new investment in supporting entrepreneurs under CEO Trevon Brooks. Piloting this initiative at Bootup is also a way to ensure that AI adoption is equitable in the Midwest.
“Omaha 100 has been helping entrepreneurs access financing, technical assistance and business support for years. AI is the next frontier,” Brooks said in an emailed statement.
“We want North Omaha entrepreneurs to have the same tools available to businesses in larger markets to compete, grow and create jobs,” he said. “We are helping our community not be left behind in the AI economy.”
Applicants will respond on June 26th whether they have been accepted into the cohort. Businesses can obtain a one-year license for Bootup Studios, which typically costs $300 per year or $50 per month.
Bootup provides an AI agent that entrepreneurs can consult with about their business problems. Connecting to backend software such as email and customer relationship management (CRM) tools also allows agents to perform tasks on behalf of your business.
There are also lead generation tools that help AI find ideal customers for businesses and search the internet for those customers and their contact information.
“When you come to the platform, you can have an existing business that you run or an idea for a business, and you have the opportunity to share it with us,” Malone said. “Then we help you find a business model, and then we give you guidance and steps to actually take every day to make money.”
The Bootup platform has a resource hub that aggregates programs that support small and medium-sized businesses. The hub includes opportunities to apply for funding, free cloud hosting, and AI credits from companies like OpenAI, Google, and Amazon.
“As we move from a one- or two-person business to a 10- to 20-person business, we built our technology in a way that allows us to grow with our customers,” Malone says.
The platform runs on Anthropic’s Claude AI, but users can also connect their favorite AI tools to Bootup Studios. Malone sees Bootup as a platform for all kinds of businesses, from landscapers looking to improve customer acquisition and invoicing to software startups building high-tech products.
“You don’t have to be a technical person or an AI native,” Malone says. “Essentially, the way we designed the tool, all you have to do is click a button and type in what you want to do.”
