Gener8tor, the decade-old startup accelerator that focuses on underserved founders around the U.S., has revealed the inaugural cohort of its climate-focused accelerator program.
With a concentration on markets in the U.S. that haven’t received the same attention as San Francisco, Boston, NYC, Austin and Seattle, gener8tor’s accelerator programs have managed to garner accolades and results for the startups they work with.
To date, gener8tor has worked with over 850 startups through their free and investment-based accelerator programs. These companies have gone on to raise over $1 billion in follow on funding, and of the 185+ alum who have gone through their investment accelerators, over half have raised more than $1 million or been acquired.
And gener8tor measures success on more than just funds invested alone. They're looking at diversity and inclusion as part of their benchmarking as well.
At least 38% of the startups gener8tor works with have one founder of color, and 40% of the companies have at least one woman on the founding team.
With this first climate cohort, the accelerator program is looking to mentor company founders on how best to get the traction and scale needed to turn their startup ideas into planet-saving success stories, according to Ryan Jeffery, the managing director of gener8tor Sustainability.
"It starts with the urgency of the problem. We recognized the challenge of climate change isn't going away," says Jeffery.
That's why gener8tor is working with the following five companies -- to help them grow into businesses that are tackling key pain points in the push to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and help the nation adapt to a changing climate.
Here's the cohort:
blip energy: This Evanston, IL-based startup founded by Sophia Wennstedt and Chance Cobb expands access to energy storage by offering a smart and affordable second-life battery that brings resilience, cost savings and IOT energy management to any and every home.
It's Electric: Tiya Gordon and Nathan King, the co-founders of Brooklyn-based It's Electric are developing technologies to provide curbside EV charging in urban neighborhoods, accelerating the transition to electric vehicles for the millions of drivers who rely on street parking.
Carbon Yield: Agriculture accounts for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. But there are some simple steps that farmers can take to reduce that figure. Sam Schiller and Claire Pluard are working to ensure the farmers in America's breadbasket are getting the financial incentives and rewards for cutting their carbon footprint along with their grains.
Mycocycle: This innovative company out of Bolingbroke, IL, uses the fungus among us to turn trash into treasure. Founded by Joanne Rodriguez, company has a new application for new waste management practices through a patent-pending process that uses fungi to remove toxins from trash to create reusable value streams.
Solar Steam: This Canadian company is tackling the problem of industrial heating using concentrating solar power. The concentrated rays of the sun heat pressurized water at temperatures of up to 550 degrees celsius to be used in industrial applications. Industrial heating, Solar Steam founder Apostol Radev well knows, accounts for around 22% of greenhouse gas emissions.
For Jeffery, who previously worked as a serial entrepreneur and investor, these companies represent significant solutions to some of the big challenges of vehicle and home electrification, sustainable agriculture, industrial energy use, and waste management.
Over the next three months, the founders of the five companies will receive coaching and mentorship along with $100,000 in exchange for a 7% equity stake to grow their businesses.
"We need as much rapid scaling of climate tech companies as possible and that’s the window that we used for selecting companies for this program," Jeffery says.