The initiative by venture and consulting studio, Ally Co, is an initiative to celebrate creativity, grow collaboration, and inspire flourishing through a monthly breakfast that features Ted-style talks, activations, networking, and good vibes.

The launch event on Friday, March 3 will feature Dr. Lillian Ney as the speaker.

The meet-ups will occur every first Friday of the month from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. at The Atelier at 38 N. Main Street in downtown Jamestown.

Individual tickets can be purchased online at www.allyco.org/ally-community-mornings

Officials gather for ribbon cutting for Ally Co (September 26, 2022)

Elected officials and local organizations helped cut the ribbon on a new venture studio focused on community in Jamestown Monday night.

Ally Co Co-founder Katie Castro said the concept of a venture studio is new to Western New York, “And what a venture studio does, essentially, is it starts start-ups. So we’ve all heard of venture capital firms. The difference here is sweat-equity versus liquid capital. And so our company is starting start-ups and we’re also coming alongside existing organizations to be their innovation change management help.”

Castro said Ally Co will help businesses or non-profits incubate an idea through the process of launching it, “And we do that for a little equity, it’s a sweat for equity model. But our process would help yield best results. In fact, so, start-up studios or venture studios have been found to have seven times better results than a traditional start-up that starts on their own.”

The multi-cultural company currently has seven employees, with half of them being bilingual. Castro said the company primarily operates online with in-person events and retreats available.

Ally Co services include product and program development, marketing, financial management, and corporate social justice.

She added that 15% of Ally Co’s profit will be invested in a fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation to benefit non-profit innovation.

Ally Co can be reached online at allyco.org.