Waukesha County Technical College is partnering with accelerator gener8tor Wisconsin to launch two programs helping entrepreneurs working with applied artificial intelligence.
The programs include a free, four-week venture-creation workshop called gALPHA designed for aspiring entrepreneurs, while a separate program called gBETA is a competitive seven-week program focused on early-stage companies looking to grow and scale.
While gALPHA has no participant limit, gBETA will have five companies per cohort.
“This collaboration was born from a shared vision and a unique synergy between our organizations,” gBETA Vice President Vanessa Huerta wrote in an email to the Business Journal. “Together, we recognized the potential to drive innovation and create impactful opportunities, making this program a natural fit.”
The goal of the partnership is to help WCTC's new Applied AI Lab connect with startups, lab director Daniel Lindberg said.
“We're trying to create those conditions and that environment for those startups and community members to just throw ideas off of each other and collaborate,” Lindberg said.
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Lindberg said the AI Lab's collaboration with gener8tor is hands-on, with the hope that participants would be able to use their experience in the lab in the real world.
“You will be using AI in each and every workshop we have,” Lindberg said. “We're going to allow people to do some of the tinkering, the learning by doing that's really necessary to then take that back to your organizations and implement it at that scale.”
Unlike other gener8tor programs, the company will not be investing in the companies selected for either program. However, the program will use gener8tor’s connections and reputation to help connect the startups with investors “who can provide the necessary funding to help grow their businesses,” Huerta said.
Gener8tor Wisconsin has accelerators in Appleton, Beloit, Kenosha, Madison and Milwaukee, but this will mark the company’s first foray into Waukesha County.
Both of the new programs will recruit startups from the Waukesha County region “in an effort to support startups based in or interested in relocating to the region,” according to a company press release.
“We saw an incredible opportunity to expand our reach by partnering with WCTC and engaging with the talented local founders in the Waukesha County region,” Huerta wrote. “Entering Waukesha County allows us to further our mission of fostering innovation and supporting startups throughout the state.”
The application deadline for gALPHA is Sept. 17 with a program start scheduled Sept. 25, while gBETA has not been scheduled yet, according to the program website.
