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Build in Tulsa

@buildintulsa

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A movement to build the infrastructure for multi-generational wealth creation.

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Introducing the 2026 W.E. BUILD Cohort ✨

Six founders. Six companies. One powerful season of growth.

Meet the entrepreneurs joining this year’s cohort:

Marilyn Harrell — Crotch Cosmetics
Kristen Dunning — Gently Soap
Bria Francisco — Collective Impact
Jai (Jerrica) Fletcher — PawGone Good
Triyumfia Houmbie Fulks — CodeAlgo, Inc.
Jasmin Foster — Be Rooted

W.E. BUILD is about helping founders access the support, relationships, and resources they need to keep building and growing.

We’re proud to welcome the 2026 cohort to the Build in Tulsa community. 🚀

#BuildInTulsa #WEBUILD #TulsaEntrepreneurs #WomenEntrepreneurs #TulsaStartups #BlackWallStreet #Entrepreneurship #BuildInTulsaFounders by @buildintulsa

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22 days ago

Let’s close the wealth gap.

Build in Tulsa is an entrepreneur support organization that serves founders who haven’t had access to capital and resources.

We help entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground with:

👉🏿 Pre-accelerator programming for founders still developing their products and business plans

👉🏿 Pitch competitions that include 25+ hours of training and cash prizes up to $20,000*

👉🏿 Partnerships with top accelerators like @theacthouse , @techstars , and @visiblehands

#entrepreneurship #blackwallstreet #tech #founders #tulsa taken in Tulsa, Oklahoma by @buildintulsa

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a year ago

Join us for the October First Friday Founders Market and spend the evening shopping local, discovering Tulsa entrepreneurs, and supporting the people building what’s next in our city.

🗓 Friday, October 2
⏰ 6:00–9:00 PM
📍 Tulsa, OK

Link in bio.

🔨 The Founders:
⚫ Jordan Massingill (@tendermoontea) hand-mixes seasonal botanical tea blends at Tender Moon Tea Company and hosts workshops where people build a blend of their own.

⚫ Chaska French-Jackson (@chaskastyler) invented the Chaska Air Styler, a patented 3-in-1 tool that dries, straightens, and curls all hair types, now sold on her website, TikTok Shop, and Amazon.

⚫ Kayla Grace (@kinara.books) runs Kinara Bookstore, a Tulsa pop-up bookshop centered on writers who rarely get the spotlight, with book clubs and a sponsorship program supporting the Oklahoma Prison Book Collective.

⚫ Siduri Purnell (@somethingbysid) hand-makes finger-knitted blankets through Something By Sid, the faith-based business she started in November 2025.

⚫ Bria Francisco built Collective Impact after more than 12 years in community development, giving housing authorities, community development corporations, and local governments one system for finding funding, tracking compliance, and reporting on affordable housing.

⚫ LaToya Larkin draws on 25 years in culinary and restaurant operations to build Mise en Cost, a platform that helps small food businesses and packaged-food brands cost their recipes and price for profit.

⚫ Tyler Thrasher (@tylerthrasherart), a self-taught chemist and artist, recently opened what he calls the world's first glowing flower shop right here in Tulsa.

⚫ Keicha Bond (@scorpiomoonjuicery) makes cold-pressed juices, herbal wellness blends, and plant-based creations at Scorpio Moon Juicery.

Shop local. Meet founders. Build community. by @buildintulsa

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6 days ago

Who will we see at Tulsa Tech Week?

Link in bio to RSVP. taken in Tulsa, Oklahoma by @buildintulsa

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13 days ago

The W.E. BUILD launch event marked the start of an exciting new chapter for Build in Tulsa and the 2026 cohort.
The evening brought together founders, community members, and supporters to celebrate entrepreneurship, connection, and what is possible when founders have access to the right resources and relationships.

We’re proud to officially welcome this year’s W.E. BUILD cohort:
Marilyn Harrell — Crotch Cosmetics
Kristen Dunning — Gently Soap
Bria Francisco — Collective Impact
Jai (Jerrica) Fletcher — PawGone Good
Triyumfia Houmbie Fulks — CodeAlgo, Inc.
Jasmin Foster — Be Rooted

Each founder enters the cohort with a unique vision, business, and story, and we’re excited to support them as they continue building, strengthening, and scaling their companies.
W.E. BUILD is about more than business growth. It is about creating access to mentorship, capital, community, and opportunity for founders who have historically been overlooked and under-resourced.

The launch event was only the beginning. We’re looking forward to everything this cohort will accomplish in the months ahead.
Welcome to W.E. BUILD 2026. We’re ready to build.

#BuildInTulsa #WEBUILD #TulsaEntrepreneurs #TulsaStartups #WomenEntrepreneurs by @buildintulsa

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16 days ago

What happens when nearly 8,000 founders, investors, and ecosystem builders gather in one place?
For Krisheena, the most valuable takeaways from Black Tech Week weren't about visibility or hype. They were about the practical decisions that help founders build stronger companies.

A few lessons stood out:

🔁 Let customer feedback shape what you build
🤝 Build community with customers, not just around them
🧩 Solve the core problem before adding more features
🧭 Lead with clarity, even when the answers aren't obvious
🏗️ Build systems before growth makes them necessary
In her latest piece for Build in Tulsa, Krisheena reflects on what Black Tech Week revealed about customer insight, product decisions, leadership, and the systems that create lasting resilience.

➡️ Read the full Black Tech Week recap through the link in bio.

#BuildInTulsa #BlackTechWeek #StartupEcosystem #TulsaEntrepreneurs #BlackFounders #ProductDevelopment #CustomerDiscovery #FounderLeadership #StartupGrowth #TechEntrepreneurs by @buildintulsa

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21 days ago

On year six at #MarthasVineyard, our @buildingthebloc clients trusted us to do one overall mission: show black joy in its highest excellence. Many thanks to @colorofchange @camelbackventures @blackwomeninvc @buildintulsa @forestforward @thegreenwoodtrust @american_heart for allowing us to bring vision to life.

Couldn’t have done it without our production team who let me dream big and drive them crazy doing 14 events this year for the past 6 months 😝🥹. We did it Joe!!

Dream Team: @itshoneylikeb
@mikkidames @living_swell @eventsbystepsevents @alurentalboston @b.cartersolutions @itsbrittneycarter @hey_kris10_ @carlinenadine_ @doableyou @_ronwashere
@morriceflorist @mfranklin628 @alexandriahammond_

A special appreciation for the team at @harborviewhotel for being the most beautiful people to be in the trenches with. See you for year 7!! 🥹❤️ taken in Inkwell Oak Bluffs, MV by @buildintulsa

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a month ago

Edna Martinson of Boddle and Brooke Hill of Swella are now part of The First 200, the first public national archive of Black women who have raised more than $1 million in a single venture capital round.

Edna’s qualifying round was a $3 million seed raise for Boddle, an education technology company reaching millions of young learners. Brooke secured a $1.4 million pre-seed round for Swella, a technology-enabled company modernizing the braiding experience for textured hair.

Both founders came through ACT House, a Build in Tulsa partner program built to connect Black and Latino founders with non-dilutive capital, hands-on support, and investor relationships.

Their names are now part of the national record—and Tulsa is part of the story.

🔗 Read the full blog at the link in bio. by @buildintulsa

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a month ago

First Friday is getting a W.E. Build takeover. 👀✨

On September 4, step inside Build in Tulsa and experience the 2026 W.E. Build First Friday Market, an evening dedicated to the ideas, products, and companies coming out of this year's cohort.

Expect founder showcases, product demos, shopping opportunities, music, conversations, and plenty of reasons to stick around. 🛍️🎶

Come discover something new. Find a company worth following. Make a connection that could turn into something more. 🤝🏾

September 4 | 6 PM
Build in Tulsa | 124 Reconciliation Way

Admission is free. Bring your curiosity. 💫 by @buildintulsa

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a month ago

What happens when founders have the support to grow?
Just ask Dr. Ashley Dash, founder of ResumeATM and a 2024 W.E. Build participant. Her experience is a reminder of what can happen when entrepreneurs have the community, resources, and support to keep building.

Now, it's time to meet the next cohort.

Join us September 4 for the 2026 W.E. Build Launch and meet the founders behind this year's cohort. Then, keep the evening going at the W.E. Build First Friday Market, where you can connect with founders, explore their businesses, see what they're building, and shop participating businesses.

W.E. Build Launch
September 4 | 4 PM
124 Reconciliation Way

First Friday Market
September 4 | 6 PM
124 Reconciliation Way

Both events are free. Come meet the founders, celebrate their work, and see what's being built next in Tulsa. by @buildintulsa

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a month ago

The next generation of Tulsa founders is ready to take the stage.

Join us as we introduce the 2026 W.E. Build cohort, a group of entrepreneurs building companies that are strengthening Tulsa's innovation ecosystem.
Hear directly from each founder, learn about the businesses they're growing, and connect with the mentors, partners, investors, and community members who believe in what's possible when founders have the right support.

✨ Admission is free. Registration is required.

📅 September 4, 2026
🕓 4:00 PM
📍 124 Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, OK

Come meet the founders behind the next wave of innovation in Tulsa. Reserve your free ticket today with our link in bio. by @buildintulsa

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a month ago

Applications are Open for Product Pitch Night 2026

Product Pitch Night gives founders eight weeks of coaching, training, and hands-on preparation to strengthen the business behind the product, and get pitch-ready.

Founders will work through customer strategy, manufacturing, financials, pricing, market positioning, and pitch development before taking the stage on November 12 to compete for $18,500 in non-dilutive funding.

And yes, that means no repayment, no interest, and no equity taken.

Want to know if Product Pitch Night is the right fit for your company? We broke down the program, eligibility requirements, timeline, funding opportunity, and everything founders can expect in our latest blog.

Applications close August 21 at 11:59 PM CT.

Read the full story and learn more about how to apply through the link in bio. by @buildintulsa

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a month ago