Startup Portfolio
​This portfolio showcases innovative companies I have recruited, supported, and advised during their residency. My work involves providing strategic guidance, developing and refining the curriculum, hosting community-building events, and connecting founders to a critical network of mentors, investors, and industry experts as they scale their operations.
​
The Roux Institute Founder Residency is a year-long accelerator program is designed for early-stage tech startups and focuses on supporting underrepresented founders.
​
The program is industry agnostic but prioritizes ventures developing technologies in high-growth sectors that align with the Roux Institute’s focus areas – climate and sustainability, artificial intelligence, computer and data sciences, digital engineering, advanced manufacturing, advanced life sciences, medicine, and national security.​​
.png)
Impact
36
Companies
$60.3M
Funds Raised
86%
Operating or Aquired
AI & Automation Applications in Lead Generation and Recruitment
Led early adoption of AI and automation in startup recruitment. By integrating advanced features across Airtable, Zapier, PitchBook, Crunchbase, and Microsoft Office, I built workflows that scaled recruitment efforts and significantly increased our pipeline of qualified applicants. This process eliminated 160+ hours of manual labor compared to prior recruitment years and broke our historic application record.​ I also developed KPI dashboards and executive reporting tools to share real-time performance insights with leadership.
See live KPI dashboard examples below (use the internal scroll to navigate or click “View larger version” to open full screen).
Professional Background
Grace St. George is a startup operator, ecosystem builder, and former founder with a passion for supporting startups at the 0–20 stage. She currently manages the Founder Residency program at the Roux Institute, where she’s helped incubate 30 early-stage tech companies across ClimateTech, FinTech, Material Science Innovation, EdTech, and Future of Work. Her work has supported an 86% startup survival rate and over $60M in follow-on funding. She has also invested time in building the partnerships, investor networks, and program infrastructure that help bridge microvalleys and address the most common challenges founders face (the search for funding, space to work, education, talent, mentorship, and a peer community)
​
Grace began her career as an entrepreneur, developing 100% plastic-free footwear made from agricultural waste. After supply-chain chaos, a major pivot, and a manufacturer treasure hunt across continents, she ultimately closed the company not because she couldn’t make a great product, but because she wouldn’t compromise the mission for a luxury price tag. The experience gave her a deep respect for founders, the resilience required to build something from nothing, and the discernment to know when to persist and when to change course.
​
At the Roux Institute, Grace built and scaled accelerator programs from the ground up, designed founder-centric curricula, and forged relationships with partners like Wilson Sonsini, Google, Meta, Spotify, and Bain. There, she has led an annual "Mentor Match Week" for the past three years, where she has recruited industry experts, investors, and ex-founders to participate in over 550+ mentor/founder meetings over the span of four days. The matched partnerships have led to advisory roles, access to funding, and critical strategic advisement for the early-stage founders.
She’s known for diagnosing founder needs quickly, aligning cross-functional teams, and introducing AI automations that dramatically reduced operational load– freeing her team to spend more time on what's impactful (and the most fun): supporting startups, deepening community, and expanding the entrepreneurial ecosystem across Maine and in New England.
​
Her background in textile innovation and sustainable manufacturing continues to shape her interests today, especially in areas tied to resilient and sustainable economies. She’s energized by regional climate innovation, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and any opportunity to be a strategic thought partner to founders bringing their first versions of the future to life.
​
Grace advocates for a lean and agile mentality for accelerators themselves in addition to startups. She thrives in environments where she can build, adapt, and improve systems, and where curiosity and initiative aren’t only welcome, but expected.
