A fee-free, equity-free pre-accelerator program that's called Cincinnati home since 2018 is looking for local startups to join its latest class that starts this May.
GBeta Cincy, which has been offered in the Queen City since the Brandery first partnered with Wisconsin-based Gener8tor, is gearing up for its spring 2021 program. Five early-stage startup teams will be selected.
The program, which requires no equity and no fees, runs over a seven-week period from May 6-June 25. The application deadline is Friday, April 16. Participating companies receive:
- Individualized coaching and mentorship during weekly, one-on-one meetings
- One-on-one meetings with 25-plus mentors including serial entrepreneurs, subject matter experts and investors
- Weekly “lunch and learns” featuring topics like understanding market size, choosing a revenue model, and how to pitch investors
- The opportunity to build relationships within each cohort and its community of alumni
- More than $1 million in deals and perks from vendors like IBM Cloud, Rackspace, Amazon, PayPal, Zendesk and Microsoft.
Traditionally, gBeta wraps up with a pitch night where participating companies present to an audience of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and community members. This year’s event will be held virtually.
The Brandery is hosting office hours leading up to the application deadline to answer questions from founders. More information is also available here.
GBeta's goal is for one-third of its graduates to participate in a full-time, equity-based accelerator or raise a seed round of at least $50,000. Nationally, gBeta is offered in nearly 20 other cities, including Cleveland, Detroit and Houston, and has graduated 466 companies.
Locally, gBeta alumni include Confab, Akru (formerly Tokenism), Hey Herbie, and two 2021 Cincy Inno “Startups to Watch,” Acumen and Carefeed.
