Wisconsin-based startup accelerator gener8tor in partnership with San Antonio coworking space Geekdom is seeking applicants for its competitive all-new cybersecurity accelerator.
Executives from gener8tor and Geekdom hosted a road show this week to connect startup founders and entrepreneurs with the newly launched program — as well as investors and mentors — and caught up with the San Antonio Business Journal to share some of the top tips for getting involved.
Geekdom CEO Charles Woodin told the San Antonio Business Journal that gener8tor and Geekdom is currently at the recruitment stage for these startups and will be interviewing them as a next step. After that, five will be chosen to participate in the first cohort of the gener8tor Cybersecurity Accelerator at Geekdom beginning Aug. 29.
San Antonio is uniquely suited to host an accelerator of this kind because of its booming cybersecurity industry and military presence, Woodin said.
Troy Vosseller, co-founder of gener8tor, said that between 200 and 1,000 companies typically apply to these accelerators, so the process is highly selective.
Senior managing director for gener8tor Haley Medved Kendrick shared the types of businesses the accelerator is looking for — which is a wide range.
"They tend to be a few years in with some kind of product in market, some users (and) other partnerships to show there's a demand for what they're working on, a lot of growth potential," Kendrick told the San Antonio Business Journal.
Eligible cybersecurity startups must be able to demonstrate a quickly scaleable plan, she said. And, while startups must be related to cybersecurity, gener8tor has an expansive definition of the term.
"We're thinking about cybersecurity overall and redefining what that means, instead of it being something intimidating and inaccessible," she said. "It can be risk-based, (or) the company could be focused on skills, pathways, workforce development, how to detect IP infringement, based in the U.S. or out of the U.S."
As an added benefit, defining cybersecurity more broadly helps the program attract more diverse candidates, she said.
Kendrick said gener8tor and Geekdom are actively working to recruit mentors, a role which can take multiple forms. Mentors can be subject matter experts in the industry; general business experts and founders of companies; technical experts in related but non-industry-specific areas, like legal, accounting and software development; or simply networking experts who know San Antonio's tech ecosystem well.
The application deadline for this cohort is July 8, according to managing director for San Antonio's gener8tor Cybersecurity Accelerator Amanda Keammerer, and eligible startups can apply on the program site. In many ways, it's a relaunch, she added: The road show this week focused on reintroducing the accelerator to partners, to stakeholders and to the local community.
The most important first step is to find five great startups — and connecting them with mentors and eligible local investors comes next, she said. While this cohort is the only one slated for 2022, Geekdom will host two gener8tor cohorts next year.
"This is really different for San Antonio," she said. "It's a new market for gener8tor ... and the second largest cyber hub in the country."
