Five Beloit startups have been selected for the Fall 2020 gBETA cohort, an accelerator program designed to help early-stage companies gain traction and prepare for seed investment.
Beloit has announced five companies from the area selected for its Fall 2020 gBETA cohorts. The startups include Aktibo Athletics, led by CEO Johann Hayag; GLW, founded by Nicholas Shepherd; QwikTrips, headed by CEO Shanta Lana Hereford; Safepro, under CEO Paul L. Eckert; and Thriveific, led by CEO Jerrick Hakim.
The gBETA Beloit Fall 2020 cohort marks the eighth program held since the initiative launched in 2017. Over those years, the program has built a steady pipeline of emerging businesses in the region, connecting local founders with resources that might otherwise be out of reach for companies at this stage.
Gener8tor, a company that builds startup programs throughout the country, provides the programming for gBETA. It operates as a sponsor-led initiative designed to train, assist, and support entrepreneurs without taking equity. That detail matters. Founders get access to structured guidance and professional networks at a stage when most are still figuring out product-market fit, and they do not have to give up a piece of their company to get it.
IronTek and Hendricks Commercial Properties sponsor Beloit's gBETA, keeping the programming free for participating entrepreneurs. gBETA Beloit runs twice per year, each time selecting five companies from across all industries and business models. The breadth of sectors represented in a single cohort is intentional, as it exposes founders to different ways of thinking about growth and problem-solving.
"Irontek is excited to welcome these five local startups to our eighth gBETA Beloit cohort," said Erin Clausen, Investment Manager at gBETA sponsor Irontek, the Beloit incubator and tech hub. "This program has had an amazing impact in our community over the last four years and we look forward to working with these founders and their teams as we continue to grow innovative businesses here in Beloit."
To ensure meaningful engagement with the gener8tor team, network, and other resources, each gBETA cohort is kept small. Participants receive intensive and individualized coaching along with access to gener8tor's national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners, and investors. For early-stage founders, that kind of access can shorten the distance between a rough idea and a viable business considerably.
The program is designed to help startups gain early customer traction on their product and establish metrics that can make them competitive applicants for equity-based accelerators or seed investment. Think of it as a proving ground. The companies that come out of gBETA are not expected to have everything figured out, but they are expected to be far more prepared for the next stage of growth than when they entered.
The ten Fall programs kicked off on Thursday, Oct. 1. Due to COVID-19, the Fall 2020 programs are all being held virtually. The startups will work with the gener8tor team for seven weeks to meet mentors, gain customer traction, and pitch to investors. Going fully remote was a necessary adjustment, but it also means these founders are building resilience into their operations from day one, a skill that will serve them well long after the pandemic subsides.
For Beloit, programs like gBETA represent a deliberate investment in local economic development. Small cities across the country are finding that supporting homegrown startups can be a more sustainable path to job creation and innovation than chasing relocations from established companies. The founders in this cohort are building businesses in their own backyard, and the community is betting on them to succeed.
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