Launch Chapel Hill, an initiative of the town, the county and UNC to mentor budding entrepreneurs, has welcomed seven new companies in hopes of building the local business community.

“Launch Chapel Hill is a Partnership between UNC, the Town of Chapel Hill, Orange County, the Downtown Partnership, and then we have support from a private donor out of Chicago,” said Dina Rousset, associate director of venturing and acceleration at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

“The doors opened in January of 2013. And the goal of it was to really support startups in Chapel Hill and Orange County, so that they would grow their businesses in this area.”

42 startups have come through the program, and seven new ones were recently accepted.

Local companies apply online, some make presentations, and between six and 10 are picked on the strength of their ideas by a selection team, every six months.

Companies are encouraged to stay in the area, but are not obliged to do so.

Chapel Hill Town Manager Roger Stancil described how the nurturing environment of Launch is likely to inspire loyalty among budding entrepreneurs.

“The first part of the business is an accelerator, and there’s a mentoring program, and the faculty at the School of Business are involved in helping the new businesses get the skills and resources they need to start their business, and then they can stay there a little while longer, as a shared working space, where they continue to get mentoring help” said Stancil. “And at the end of that time, hopefully, they would be strong enough to go out on their own.”

Launch Chapel Hill offers budding companies a professional environment, as well as community connections, and mentoring in public relations, marketing and legal issues.

Patrick Mateer is CEO of Seal the Seasons LLC, an Orange County-based frozen-food company with a processing plant in Hillsborough. He was raised in Chapel Hill and graduated from UNC just two months ago.

His company is one of seven to be accepted by Launch recently.

“We partner with local farmers to freeze, market and distribute local fruits and vegetables, all year-round” said Mateer. “We’re currently freezing strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, broccoli and spinach. We then package it for retail sale.”

Operations for the company began just this past May, but planning began in 2013. Back then, Mateer was involved in a program with the Carrboro Farmers’ Market that provided healthy surplus food for low-income citizens. The idea for Seal the Seasons was to make such food available during the colder months as well.

Mateer said that once his company breaks even, 20 percent of profits will go toward providing healthy food to low-income households. Right now, Seal the Seasons is working toward wider distribution.

“We currently are selling food to Weaver Street Market, which is local, in Chapel Hill and Carrboro,” said Mateer, “and the Durham Co-Op in Durham. We expect to move to some of the bigger retailers this fall, when we’ve actually frozen all the products, which we’re doing right now.”

Seal the Seasons employs three full-time staffers, including Mateer; and three full-time equivalent jobs are staffed by eight part-time laborers.

Earl McKee is Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners. He’s a farmer himself, and a fan of Seal the Seasons, and the Launch program in general.

“That not only provides an opportunity for this beginning company to get their operation off the ground,” said McKee. “It also provides opportunities for local farmers in Orange County to increase their sales.”

Other newly accepted companies in the Launch program include BlipMe, a mobile app for sharing real-time locations; SWAP Socks, which packages and sells mismatched socks to help underprivileged people get eye care; Textile Solutions, which helps textile and polymer companies operate a little greener; Tribal Intel, which helps clients streamline sales processes; Trill Financial, a financial software company; and Waterless Buddy’s, a waterless car wash.