A Complete Entrepreneurial System for Cities

Ready to Grow

Cities of all sizes need thriving small-business ecosystems, but the entrepreneurs who power those economies, especially Black, Latino, and underinvested founders, rarely have access to the structured support, capital, and tools they need to succeed.

ESO Ventures partners with cities and institutions to close that gap by delivering a ready-to-deploy entrepreneurial infrastructure system that helps these founders launch stronger businesses, create jobs, and build long-term community wealth.

Every City Has Talent.
Not Every City Has Infrastructure.

Across California, underinvested entrepreneurs are driving new business creation, yet many operate informally, limiting access to capital, reducing business stability, and shrinking the local tax base. Core metrics that community leaders are expected to improve. Without structured guidance, these founders face the highest closure rates, directly undermining business retention, job creation, and equitable-growth goals.

Cities often rely on workshops, grants, and scattered partners but without a cohesive system, these efforts produce inconsistent results, low formalization, and programs that are difficult to measure or sustain.

The impact is immediate: promising businesses stall, commercial corridors struggle to stabilize, and communities lose revenue, jobs, and momentum for economic mobility.

ESO’s model is designed to close this infrastructure gap and provide economic development leaders with a system that reliably delivers the outcomes they’re charged with delivering.

The System That Builds Stronger Entrepreneurs

ESO Ventures has developed the Entrepreneurial Infrastructure Stack, a comprehensive framework that equips underinvested entrepreneurs with the education, support, and capital needed to build sustainable businesses, and gives our community partners the tools to make that support scalable.

Each layer of the Stack works together to create a complete, measurable system for entrepreneurial growth. Hover over each section to learn more.

For economic development and community leaders, the Stack provides the foundation for long-term impact, creating an ecosystem where entrepreneurs can start, grow, and thrive right where they are.

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A Scalable Incubator for Communities Ready to Invest in Their Own Talent

Every city has the ingredients for a thriving economy: creativity, grit, and people who know how to get things done. What’s often missing isn’t talent. It’s infrastructure.

ESO Next was built for cities, counties, and communities ready to change.

ESO Is Shifting The System

  • Business Services

    ESO Next is a one-year, comprehensive, milestone-driven program that equips under-resourced entrepreneurs with the tools, knowledge, and capital access to launch and grow real businesses. Sponsored by public and private partners, ESO Next drives local job creation and revenue growth by investing directly in small business owners.

  • Financial Services

    Capital in the Community Fund (CICF) A non-dilutive capital fund offering $5K–100K in low-to-zero-interest funding to incubator graduates—empowering entrepreneurs to scale after completion.

Each cohort receives:

Access to trusted, flexible capital

Digital progress tracking and cohort analytics

Post-program alumni network and reporting dashboard

ESO HUB

Sustaining Local Growth

The ESO Hub is a digital community that keeps entrepreneurs connected, resourced, and growing beyond the incubator experience.

Included as part of the ESO Next 12-month program, every participating entrepreneur receives full membership to the Hub, gaining access to curated learning, capital opportunities, and a statewide network of peers and mentors.