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Innovation Center for Urban Entrepreneurship Launches FirstCheck Angel Investor Accelerator Nationally on New Vantage Platform

HOUSTON, TX - September 08, 2026 - PRESSADVANTAGE - 
The Innovation Center for Urban Entrepreneurship (iCUE), a Houston-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has launched its FirstCheck Angel Investor Accelerator nationally through Vantage, a new all-in-one education platform that combines structured curriculum, an online peer community, and access to vetted investment opportunities. The program teaches business owners and accomplished professionals, particularly those from under-invested communities, how to become knowledgeable angel investors.
The accelerator originated with monthly investor education sessions at The Ion District, Houston's innovation hub, and, with support from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, expanded into Tulsa, Oklahoma in February 2026 in collaboration with Build in Tulsa. That expansion represents the first step toward national reach, which is now available to participants anywhere through the virtual Vantage platform.
Founded in 2019, iCUE works to close innovation, job, income, and wealth gaps in under-invested communities by educating and enabling both entrepreneurs and investors. The FirstCheck Angel Investor Accelerator centers on the ADD Method, a proprietary framework built around three principles: accessible, diversified, and derisked investing. The approach teaches participants how investors think before addressing what to invest in.
“Most people spend their entire careers building a portfolio of stocks, bonds, and retirement accounts, and never once access the asset class that has historically created the most wealth.” says Heath Butler, Founder and Chair of the iCUE Board. “78% of the value created in venture-backed companies goes to investors, not founders. Alternative investments are not a bonus for the wealthy, it's a required component of their portfolio. For most people, alternatives are simply the missing piece to change a family's wealth building trajectory.”
The program is structured in progressive stages. FirstCheck 101 provides foundational orientation on private markets and early-stage capital. FirstCheck 201 introduces applied practice, with participants making structured invest-or-pass decisions, and its first live sessions launched in August 2026. The advanced 300 Series, covering how to find, evaluate, structure, and value deals, launches in the fourth quarter of 2026, with specialized 400 Series electives in development for 2027. Vantage will also feature a Simulation Room for mock deal analysis and Deal Rooms containing vetted opportunities from investment partners. The message throughout is consistent: Learn To Invest like the Top 1 Percent through education and guidance rather than luck or connections.
Early feedback has been positive. Every survey respondent from the Tulsa session rated the experience "Very Valuable" or "Extremely Valuable," and the average interest score in venture and startup investing reached 4.23 out of 5. Thirty-six percent of respondents cited high investment minimums as their primary barrier to participation, a finding iCUE says validates the accessibility focus of the ADD Method. These figures are preliminary and self-reported.
"Our team has decades of experience in the innovation ecosystem, and we have seen firsthand who gets to invest in the future and who does not," said Layla Dotson Lumpkin, the Executive Director of iCUE. "Becoming an angel investor should not be a matter of luck or connections; it should be a skill anyone can learn. Through structured education and guidance, we are equipping aspiring investors to make their first investment thoughtfully and well. That is what it means to be a smart angel. Expanding who has the opportunity to invest is essential to expanding who has the opportunity to build what comes next."
iCUE's anchor investment partner, Urban Capital Network, has generated more than $8 million in investments into early-stage companies, including more than $500,000 directed to women and founders of color. UCN has trained over 3000 individuals and has activated over 250 investors, with more than 60 percent from underserved communities. The accelerator serves as Your Roadmap for those seeking a structured on-ramp to early-stage investing.


The Innovation Center for Urban Entrepreneurship is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating, empowering, and enabling investors and entrepreneurs to build generational wealth and transform their communities through programs, partnerships, and hands-on learning.
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For more information about Innovation Center for Urban Entrepreneurship, contact the company here:
Innovation Center for Urban Entrepreneurship
Layla Dotson Lumpkin 
info@icueusa.org
4201 Main Street, L-13
Houston, TX 77002

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