March 20, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan

Wisconsin-based accelerator gener8tor and venture capital firm Serra Ventures have created a new partnership to launch two new agtech accelerator programs in Champaign, Illinois. 

The Seed Accelerator Rankings Project has regularly ranked gener8tor as one of the top accelerators in the U.S. With existing accelerators in Detroit, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and Houston, these two new programs represent gener8tor’s first foray into Illinois.

Both programs will operate in partnership with Serra Ventures under the banner of the Illinois AgTech Accelerators, with support from Agri-Fab Inc., Fox Development Corps, GEN Realty Capital, The UIUC Research Park, The University of Illinois, and The Champaign County Economic Development Corp.

“We are delighted to be bringing an Agriculture Technology accelerator to the Champaign-Urbana community,” said Dennis Beard, partner at Serra Ventures.

“Contributions by many organizations and people in our community have brought this accelerator program together. Additionally, we are excited to have gener8tor as a partner to lead the operation of the program.”

Under gener8tor’s gBETA model, the first program is called gBETA AgTech. Spanning seven weeks, this accelerator program is expected to begin this summer with its first cohort of five early-stage startups. Each participant will receive a $25,000 investment via uncapped convertible note, or on their existing financial terms, and assistance in gaining traction for their technology or product.

The program will offer intensive and individualized coaching and access to gener8tor’s national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners, and investors to execute on metrics to make each participant competitive applicants for full-time, equity-based accelerators or ready for Seed investment.

Also announced was the launch of an annual gener8tor AgTech accelerator designed to attract the world’s best-in-class agtech startups to Champaign for an intensive 12-week accelerator program.

Like the gBETA program, five participants will be selected. However, this once-a-year program will award each participant $100,000, give each office space, and work with them for three months connecting each startup with mentors, customers, corporate partners, and investors through access to gener8tor’s global network. 

“We wanted to design programs that combined the core competencies and network of our Champaign-based corporate partners with a frictionless investment model to attract the best startups from around the world,” said Troy Vosseller, co-founder of gener8tor.

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.