Rapid Radicals joins gener8tor’s Great Lakes Innovation Accelerator

Milwaukee startup Rapid Radicals Technology was selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of gener8tor’s Great Lakes Innovation Accelerator, a new program supporting water technology companies across the region.

The accelerator is backed by a $13.4 million award from the Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Over the next four years, the program will invest in 60 startups, each receiving $100,000 in non-dilutive funding, intensive mentorship, and access to testing facilities and industry partners. The initiative is part of NOAA’s larger $54.3 million Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerators program, which seeks to strengthen coastal infrastructure and boost economic opportunities through innovation.

Building resilience in Milwaukee and beyond

Rapid Radicals, founded by environmental engineer Dr. Paige Peters and led by CEO Dylan Waldhuetter, develops a wastewater treatment system designed to respond quickly to flooding events and combined sewer overflows. Peters began developing the technology while a graduate student at Marquette University to protect Lake Michigan from pollution during extreme storms.

The company’s system treats water up to 15 times faster than conventional methods, with pilot systems already operating through the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

Rapid Radicals’ systems are designed to help utilities manage extreme rain events, reducing the risk of untreated sewage flowing into waterways. The company’s mission has only become more urgent as severe storms overwhelm outdated sewer infrastructure. Waldhuetter pointed to this summer’s record flooding in Wisconsin. “It’s certainly in moments like those where we recognize this crisis, and really that was the whole genesis for what we’re doing, to provide resiliency to those sorts of moments,” he said.

Rapid Radicals continues to explore opportunities in other coastal regions. “As the United States faces more uncertain, less predictable, more severe rainfall events, the consequences of combined untreated sewage finding its way into water bodies means people are more likely to interact with it, and it can have more severe impacts on local economies,” Waldhuetter said.

Beyond utilities, the company has begun conversations with Midwestern dairy processors facing wastewater capacity challenges. Waldhuetter said these private-sector opportunities represent another way the technology can address economic and environmental needs at the same time.

Accelerating growth

For Waldhuetter, the Great Lakes-focused accelerator felt like a natural fit. “There was a logical connection between the accelerator’s focus on water technology, us being located in the region, providing a solution for the region, and what the accelerator’s doing, convening technologies in and outside the region with the focus on accelerating their commercial impact,” he said.

He noted that Rapid Radicals first engaged with gener8tor several years ago through the gBETA program, which he called “instrumental” in shaping early business development.

As Rapid Radicals transitions from research and pilots toward commercialization, the timing of the accelerator feels ideal. “We’re really transitioning into a maturity in our business where our focus is more commercial and we’re starting to get some traction,” Waldhuetter said. “The conversations that we’re having through these mentor swarms and with the gener8tor folks is really about accelerating that commercial success. So it’s just very opportune timing and we’re grateful for it and excited about it.”

To learn more about Rapid Radicals, connect with the company here.