Accelerators
gBETA Kenosha summer cohort announced
The gBETA Kenosha accelerator has announced the names of the startup businesses chosen to participate in its 2023 summer cohort.
The free, seven-week, no-equity accelerator program provides startup founders with intensive business coaching and access to mentors, customers, corporate partners, and investors. The program is designed to set a path for startups based in southeastern Wisconsin to participate in equity-based accelerator programs and investment opportunities.
This accelerator supports up to five startups per cohort. Since launching in 2015, gBETA accelerator alumni have raised more than $545M in capital and created more than 3,700 jobs across the U.S. and Canada.
gBETA Kenosha Summer 2023 Cohort
The female-founded startup creates pepper infused condiments that can be found at eleven retail locations in the area.
Houstr provides a platform that allows short-term rental property and boutique hotel owners to sell items in the room, like bedding, furniture, and accessories to their guests. Co-founder Nick Koenen announced last November that Milwaukee venture capital firm Gateway Capital Partners invested $300,000 into the emerging experimental marketplace.
The revenue generating rental company offers fully furnished apartments for short and long-term stays.
Founder Meng Chen created a SaaS to automate property management administration. The revenue-generating company received a $10,000 grant from the FOR-M program in the first quarter of 2023.
VocaTone enables creators to generate high-quality vocals quickly and easily for music, animation, and other text-to-speech applications using voice synthesizer AI technology. The breakout stars of the 2022 Early-Stage Symposium, the emerging technology company won the People’s Choice award in the event’s Elevator Pitch Olympics.
The program will culminate with a public pitch contest hosted in Kenosha.
“Entrepreneurship and innovation are keys to creating economic wellbeing for Wisconsinites,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., which in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) is providing a Workforce Innovation Grant to gener8tor to operate the program. “It’s critical for our state’s economic future that we provide the resources necessary for startups to succeed.”
