As Gener8tor nears its one year anniversary in the Twin Cities, the nationally-ranked tech accelerator is kicking into high gear.
The Minnesota arm of the Madison-based accelerator is getting ready for its first Gener8tor class, a program that will invest at least $450,000 in five fast-growing startups. It will also provide participants with mentorship from local entrepreneurs and potential connections to followup capital.
“We’re really, really excited,” said managing director Eric Martell. “The quality of startups in the Twin Cities is as high as I’ve seen anywhere. And that includes some of the ‘sexier coastal markets’ like Los Angeles and Boston.”
Martell said that the accelerator is set to launch this summer, although an exact date has not been set. For the past several months, Martell and his two-man team, along with the occasional help of Gener8tor founder Troy Vosseller, have been traveling across the country recruiting applicants for this year’s Minneapolis accelerator.
Per Gener8tor rules, participants are required to relocate to the Twin Cities for the duration of the 12 week program. Despite this key stipulation, Martell said initial responses from non-local companies have been “really positive.”
“I think it proves that companies are willing to move to the cities we operate our accelerators in,” he said. “It’ll be a great win for the Twin Cities.”
In 2016, Gener8tor’s Madison accelerator drew in more than 600 applications from around the country. Of those selected to go through the accelerator, only one was from Wisconsin. Applications for Minneapolis’ inaugural accelerator are still being considered and counted, but Martell said he hopes to pull in numbers close to Madison’s.
Martell took over for Mark McGuire as the program’s managing director earlier this year after McGuire announced he was stepping down from the position to co-found a new business. According to Martell, McGuire plans to stay involved with Gener8tor as an advisor and venture partner.
Martell officially took over for McGuire as managing director in February. The startup he co-founded, Eat Street, was one of the first companies to go through Gener8tor after it launched in 2012. Since participating in the accelerator, Eat Street has raised just under $40 million in venture capital and expanded its Madison-based team to nearly 300 people.
“We were Gener8tor’s first investment and they were our first investor, so I knew the guys really well,” he said. “I jumped at the opportunity.”
Under McGuire, Gener8tor Minneapolis conducted its first successful gBeta, an early-stage accelerator for companies with local roots. Gener8tor doesn’t provide gBeta participants with funding, but coaches them to become accelerator or angel ready.
Six Twin Cities startups went through the six-week program last fall. Currently, at least one of the companies is raising capital through local angel investors, according to Martell. Another, Step One Foods, was a finalist at the most recent Google Demo Day.
In addition to completing Gener8tor’s first accelerator this year, Martell said he hopes that the companies Gener8tor works with will growing aggressively and sustainably. He added that the team will also hopefully be either in the midst of, or very close to, running a second gBeta class in the fall.
Above all, Martell said he wants Gener8tor to become a an integral part of the Twin Cities tech ecosystem.
“There’s an absolutely unbelieveable amount of potential here,” he said. “The rest of the year, we want to be a good, conscientious member of the startup community and help people any way we can.”
