gBETA AgTech

Grow your startup in
Champaign-Urbana, IL.

 

About gBETA

gBETA runs multiple times every year in cities across the United States. Up to five companies from a range of verticals are selected from a competitive applicant pool to participate in the free seven-week program. Participating companies receive:

  • Individualized coaching and mentorship from the team of nationally ranked accelerator gener8tor on company growth and investor readiness

  • Weekly "Lunch & Learns" and "Mentor Swarms"

  • Investor and accelerator pitches

  • $1M+ in deals and perks from vendors like IBM Cloud, Rackspace, Amazon, Paypal, Zendesk, Hubspot and Microsoft

  • Ongoing post-program support and gener8tor community involvement and offerings

gBETA's goal is that graduates will go on to participate in an investment accelerator or raise a seed round. You can see gBETA's progress against these goals here.

 
 

Do you have questions? Want to learn more? Meet with us during office hours.

Eligibility Criteria for
gBETA AgTech

 

A Hybrid Program

gBETA AgTech is an accelerator for early-stage AgTech or Agriculture startups. We accept applications from startups across the globe, but you must be able to attend in-person programming in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

 

You're Committed

While we don't expect you to be full-time on your business yet, programming is about a five-hour commitment each week, and we expect that you will be spending additional time working on your business each week outside of the program.

 

You're Ready to Grow

gBETA companies range from "I have an idea" to "I have significant revenue." Although most gBETA companies are post-product, pre-scale, as long as you are ready to make use of coaching on customer growth and investor readiness, mentor meetings, and investor and accelerator pitches, we're ready for you!

 

Apply to an
Upcoming Program

Upcoming Program

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Director

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We are not currently accepting applications for this program.

Stay tuned. While there aren't any upcoming programs for this location at the moment, there are plenty of other available opportunities at gener8tor!

What’s the gBETA program schedule like?

Team Meetings feature individualized coaching and mentorship from the gBETA team.

Weekly Lunch & Learns featuring topics relevant to startups including understanding market size, choosing a revenue model, and setting financing goals and milestones. Lunches are open to the broader community.

Mentor Swarms are speed-dating-style meetings with five mentors each week. Mentors include serial entrepreneurs, subject matter experts and investors.

Are you a mentor who would like to get involved? Learn more and fill out our mentor interest form here.

Investor Swarm is an opportunity for each company to pitch to 25+ angel investors, VCs and accelerators in their home market locally and nationally.

Program Wrap-Up provides each cohort to celebrate their program completion with one another and program partners. Companies will have the opportunity to showcase their startups.

gBETA Accelerator FAQs

Do you still have questions about the gBETA program? Explore some of our frequently asked questions below to find the answer.

 
  • gBETA is a free, seven-week, pre-accelerator program for companies that are looking to achieve rapid growth and/or raise venture capital. gBETA helps entrepreneurs work in and on their business while also attaining the entrepreneurial mindset needed to be successful.

  • Thanks to our program partners, gBETA is completely free to the five companies selected to participate in each cohort.

  • gBETA embraces a concierge approach to its programming. That means founders receive one-on-one attention throughout the program. Everything we do is personalized to your business, no matter how far along you are in its development.

    gBETA is run by nationally ranked startup accelerator gener8tor, so you know that the help you’re getting is top-notch.

  • Sure, what have you got to lose? It’s completely free, and we’ll help you grow and scale your business!

    gBETA is a good fit for you if you are ready to “step on the gas” for your business. We work with companies who are pre-revenue, and those who already have revenue. Most of our programs are industry-agnostic, so we accept a wide variety of startups, but we are looking for companies who want to scale quickly and see value in raising venture capital to do so.

  • Through one-on-one interaction with their program director, mentors and investors, program participants gain valuable personalized insights that can be applied to their business strategy. Program focus areas include gaining an entrepreneurial mindset, validating the company, growing customer traction, and preparing for investor pitches.

    Benefits include:

    • Additional media attention, which leads to additional support from community and business leaders

    • Access to gener8tor’s robust national network of thousands of fellow entrepreneurs, mentors and investors, and warm introductions to those most relevant to your business

    • Lifetime membership access to GAN (Global Accelerator Network)

    • $1M + in deals and perks from vendors like IBM Cloud, Rackspace, Amazon, PayPal, Zendesk and Microsoft

    • Membership in gener8tor’s startup community of thousands of startup founders, with access to gener8tor’s network, events and resources for the lifetime of your business

  • There is an online application that you fill out to be considered for the program. You are welcome to apply for more than one program if you qualify (i.e. you have a presence in the city or industry of the program you are applying for).

    Once applications close, the director will notify you if you have been selected for an interview. There are typically one or two rounds of interviews. You will be instructed to prepare a pitch for your interview, and the program director will ask some questions once you are finished presenting.

    After interviews are complete, the director will follow up to let you know if you have been selected.

    We encourage you to sign up for an office hours before or after you apply to get face-time with the director and ask any questions you may have.

  • Once founders complete the 7-week program, they become alumni. Directors keep in close contact and continue to support their alumni, and alumni are part of the gener8tor network for the life of their business. We make every effort to ensure they are considered for future opportunities such as gener8tor’s investment accelerators, inclusion in our OnRamp conferences, or introductions to new mentors and investors. We have your back from start to finish.

  • We won’t sugar-coat it; running a startup and bringing it through an accelerator is a commitment, but you don’t need to be working on your company full-time to participate in gBETA. We usually require four to six hours per week of in-person or on-screen meetings, plus follow-ups and other outside time that founders will need to spend working on their businesses.

    That said, our intention is always to work on projects and goals that will move your company forward significantly, so it’s time well spent. And, we do realize founders are busy while balancing their personal lives and their work lives. Directors will work with each founder to ensure the program works with their schedule. That said, we expect founders will make every effort to get the most out of their experience.

  • Yes, please do! Due to the nature of the program and our desire to put a strong focus on five companies per cohort, not all who apply will be immediately accepted. Founders should continue to apply for gBETA even if they are not accepted upon first application.

  • Yes and no. We will help you set and achieve metrics that make your company attractive to investors and we’ll help you craft a killer pitch. We’ll also introduce you to investors both during the program and after the program, if you’d like us to. However, we won’t pitch or make asks for you. We’ll show you the path, but it’s up to you to make the journey and get the funding.

    While we cannot make guarantees in terms of potential investments, we work very hard to ensure that the program puts you in the best position possible to raise money if that is your goal.

  • Every gBETA program is different depending on the market for which you are applying. Some programs accept any type of startup that is located in a certain geography, while others may recruit nationally for a specific industry vertical.

    If you are unsure whether or not to apply, we highly recommend requesting office hours with the Director of the program that interests you.


 
 

Questions? Find a time for gBETA AgTech Office Hours or email the program Director.

Jack Marck
gBETA AgTech

Director
jack@gener8tor.com


Mentors are crucial to the success
of the gBETA AgTech program.

Every week, we invite a handful of mentors to "speed date"–aka gBETA Mentor Swarm–with each of the gBETA Indiana teams over a two-hour afternoon session either virtually or in-person. During the Mentor Swarms, mentors will be at stations and the cohort rotates. Each startup having 15-20 minutes per mentor. The startup will start by pitching and presenting an ask to the mentor, and the mentor can give any feedback to the startup. Every mentor, no matter the industry, is asked to provide mentorship on a pay-it-forward basis during the seven weeks, dedicating two hours per program.

 
Thank you to our Sponsors: