Gener8tor startup accelerator invests $800K into eight companies

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OKLAHOMA CITY – A local business accelerator created to help scale high-growth Oklahoma startups is underway.

Gener8tor Oklahoma City invests in eight startups per cohort. The second cohort of the 12-week accelerator, which began in March, is once again comprised of eight businesses to ensure participants receive a white-glove experience that includes support from experienced mentors, corporate partners, angel investors and venture capitalists.

According to Gener8tor’s website, startups accepted into the industry-agnostic and model-agnostic program receive $100,000 in addition to mentor support.

Anita Ly, managing director for Gener8tor Oklahoma City, said business founders get to meet with a curated group of about 100 mentors and 50 investors. The programming is structured around the needs of the companies.

“This year, we learned through the interview process that most of the companies in our cohort right now want a huge focus on go-to-market strategy and sales strategies,” Ly said.” “We’ve been creating and bringing in experts to provide workshops for them around those specific strategies.”

Founders also meet one-on-one with Ly, who has a venture capital background, as well as Program Manager Kristin Gibbs, an expert in entrepreneurship and product management.

Ly said underrepresented founders were 88% of Gener8tor’s first and second cohorts. The inaugural cohort in 2023 has created 54 additional jobs in Oklahoma City.

Before the accelerator, Ly said most of the companies that participate are bootstrapped, having to rely on their savings, friends and family. She said the $100,000 helps companies expand their technology, acquire customers and grow into a pilot.

Software company Nodecraft, a participant in the inaugural cohort last year, realized during the program that they needed to make changes to become more scalable. Ly said they switched from B2C to B2B, and now they’re about to oversubscribe their investment rounds. They used the $100,000 from Gener8tor to hire staff, accelerate the development of their product, and subsequently, they were invited to showcase at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco earlier this year. They launched their product and have received several potential contracts.

This year, Ly said the selection process was particularly difficult because of the high-quality candidate pool. She said Gener8tor received 120 applications, and after three rounds of interviews, eight were chosen that could best contribute to the local ecosystem, but many more were also deserving.

Rustin Cavel and Dan Durning, co-founders of fintech platform Coast, were selected to participate in this year’s cohort. Coast is a unified financial navigation platform designed for consumers who own digital assets like cryptocurrencies. Cavel said those who own such assets have unique needs that aren’t accounted for within the framework of traditional finance, which has resulted in more than $100 billion in losses due to a lack of proper management tools.

“The worlds of traditional and decentralized finance are completely siloed and segregated right now,” Cavel said. “Most consumers who own digital assets have to navigate and manage several different apps on their phone just to understand their financial picture in its entirety.”

The company’s first minimum viable product, Canvas, allows users to add their traditional assets, such as checking accounts, vehicles, mortgages and traditional investment accounts, along with decentralized exchange accounts and crypto wallets for easier management.

Their platform launched its closed-beta version in December. Cavel and Durning say the timing of Gener8tor, the only accelerator they applied to, came at the perfect time as they work to launch into open beta by the end of April.

In addition to receiving assistance growing the business, Durning said Gener8tor has allowed them to connect with a community that is experiencing similar challenges. He said the accelerator has helped them distill their value proposition as an organization and determine how to speak to consumers about what they’re building. Additionally, he said they’re learning about options for distribution channels to scale faster.

“We’re really just looking to see our network expand both in Oklahoma City and in the greater startup ecosystem, (ensure a) successful product launch, and (develop) a different frame of mind and perspective of how we think about distribution, and how we think about helping our customers navigate their life and financial well being,” Cavel said. “That’s the two biggest ones for us.”