A Birmingham-based nonprofit early-stage venture investment platform will expand its accelerator programming with gener8tor, a venture firm and national accelerator network.
Bronze Valley and gener8tor began their collaboration with Bronze Valley gBETA Accelerator, a non-equity accelerator focused on underrepresented founders, and gALPHA Accelerator, a non-equity entrepreneurship program for students affiliated with Alabama historically Black colleges and universities. Over the last two years, the Bronze Valley Accelerator has supported 20 companies across four cohorts that have collectively raised over $8 million in venture capital following the program.
Building on this, Bronze Valley and gener8tor are planning to include an equity-based accelerator program to kick off in 2023. The Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator will select five companies each year to participate in the accelerator program, and each company will receive a $100,000 investment from Bronze Valley.
The program will focus on startups that are determined to have the opportunity for significant and scalable economic impact.
“The partnership between Bronze Valley and gener8tor represents a tremendous contribution to innovation and the growth of new business and economic opportunity in Birmingham and beyond,” said Neill S. Wright, president and CEO of Bronze Valley, in a news release. “Expanding this critical partnership through the Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator will increase our impact as we continue to support entrepreneurs and help define the future of business growth in our region and across the country.”
The accelerator is supported by the Alabama Department of Commerce, Bronze Valley, Alabama Power, Regions and Spire. The Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator is held once per year with five diverse and/or female-led companies accepted per year to ensure a high level of individualized attention.
Currently, gener8tor is seeking to hire a managing director to lead the Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator through the expansion.
