Two companies headquartered in Florida and two others based in Gener8tor’s home state of Wisconsin are among the six startups participating in the organization’s latest for-equity accelerator program.
Gener8tor, which invests in startups and coaches the entrepreneurs who run them, has graduated a dozen classes of early-stage companies from its core program since 2012. The 65 startups in Gener8tor’s portfolio have together raised more than $150 million in follow-on financing, the organization says.
This week Gener8tor unveiled its newest group of companies, which has been working from Madison, WI, since the program kicked off in February. It will culminate on May 16 with a pitch event at the Edgewater Hotel in the city’s downtown.
Participating startups receive $20,000 in cash at the start of the program, in exchange for Gener8tor taking an equity stake of 6 to 7 percent. Companies are guaranteed a follow-on investment of $70,000 in the form of an uncapped convertible note.
Founders get help from Gener8tor’s team and mentor network as they work to add users and customers, and ask investors to fund their companies.
Gener8tor also runs two shorter startup accelerators, which it calls gALPHA and gBETA. Companies that participate in these programs do not get money from Gener8tor, nor do they surrender any ownership of their businesses.
The organization has recently been in expansion mode. The list of states where Gener8tor has held accelerator programs or plans to in the near future includes Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.
Here are descriptions of the six companies in Gener8tor’s latest class:
—RankMiner develops software that listens to call center phone conversations to help the corporations who operate the facilities identify at-risk customers and ones likeliest buy additional products and services. Preston Fakyus founded RankMiner in 2013 and is CEO of the St. Petersburg, FL-based startup, which says its tools can also help companies identify the employees working in call centers who are helping or hurting business the most.
—Ease is developing cloud-based software to help businesses find and manage independent contractors and freelance workers. According to the Milwaukee-based startup’s website, an organization submits a job to Ease and it searches a national network of freelancers for the best match. Once Ease has placed a contractor or freelancer at a business, the organization can use Ease’s software to track information about its “gig” workers and their projects. CEO Nathan Harris and chief operating officer Saul Sutton co-founded Ease in 2016.
—Another startup focused on short-term engagements is PlaceMe, which helps users find furnished apartments (or rooms) to live in that offer flexible lease terms. Cambridge, MA-based PlaceMe says it focuses on young professionals and graduate students, and that it is seeking to forge partnerships with large employers and colleges and universities. The Boston area is the only market in which two-year-old PlaceMe is currently operating, according to its website. More than 80 percent of its users are people moving to the U.S. from another country, the company says. CEO Clara Arroyave and chief financial officer Francisco Marriott are the co-founders of PlaceMe.
—Advocatia develops software and provides services to help hospitals identify patients who are eligible for Medicaid and other government-provided health insurance programs, and assist them with signing up for coverage. The Chicago-based startup says that by using its products, hospitals can increase the amount insurers reimburse for care, lower bad debt, and more easily navigate the process of being audited by regulators. Sister-and-brother team Laura Robbins and Ryan Brebner co-founded Advocatia in 2016.
—Àlacarte operates under a somewhat unconventional food delivery model in which it
