gener8tor Milwaukee Invests $500K into Five New Startups
Innovative Companies Selected for 12-week Accelerator Program
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Five new fast-growing startup companies from across North America have each been selected to receive a $100,000 investment and participate in the gener8tor Milwaukee startup accelerator program.
The selected startups are: Burlington, Wisconsin-based court reporter scheduling tool eCourt Reporters; Norcross, Georgia-based contact care subscription platform Optikal; Bloomington, Indiana-based translation services marketplace Traduality; Fremont, California-based AI learning platform Tutorly.ai; and Toronto, Canada-based international transfer student platform UPI Study.
gener8tor Milwaukee invests $100,000 into each of five high-growth startups per cohort across all industries and business models. Accepted startups take part in an intensive 12-week, cohort-based accelerator program, which includes 1:1 coaching, mentorship-driven programming, more than $1 million in deals and perks, and more than 100 connections to the gener8tor network of mentors and investors.
gener8tor Milwaukee received more than 420 applications from across the world for the program. The five selected companies were chosen based on their growth potential and investor readiness.
“This was a highly-competitive applicant pool, and these startups impressed us with their well-rounded teams, revenue traction, market opportunity and scalability,” said Molly Dill, managing director of gener8tor Milwaukee. “This program not only supports these five companies, but also brings opportunity and economic development to the entire Milwaukee business community.”
At the end of the gener8tor Milwaukee program, the startup founders will pitch their companies to investors, community partners and the public at a Showcase event in Milwaukee on Sept. 21.
Startup founders interested in learning more about gener8tor’s programming or applying to a future gener8tor Wisconsin program can visit the gener8tor Milwaukee or gener8tor Madison websites, or reach out to managing director Molly Dill at molly@gener8tor.com. Those interested in mentoring these companies or getting involved in other ways are also encouraged to connect.
gener8tor Milwaukee 2023 Cohort
eCourt Reporters enables law firms, government entities and court-reporting agencies to directly schedule court reporters and legal support services with live calendar availability. Through its secure database, client-centered law firms save hours with efficient booking in minutes. eCourt Reporters is based in Burlington, WI and is QNBV qualified. eCourt Reporters has registered users in all 50 states, and averages $10K in monthly revenue.
Karen Renee | Co-founder & CEO | krenee@ecourtreporters.com | (262) 210-3915
Optikal provides a contact lens subscription service & voluntary employee benefit that breaks down the high cost of contact care through payroll deductions. Optikal launched B2C to prove consumer market fit before launching its B2B2C model. Optikal currently has about 130 active customers generating about $5K in monthly recurring revenue, and has maintained a churn rate of roughly 1.3%.
SueAnn Hollowell | Co-founder & CEO | info@optikalcontactcare.com | (770) 875-0878
Traduality’s marketplace connects organizations and individuals in need of any translation-related service directly to vetted freelance translators at a fraction of the price and half the time. Traduality offers access to more than 20 different translation related services in any language, using supportive AI to triple translators’ productivity. Traduality is a Delaware C-Corp. Traduality has manually connected 163 customers with 116 translators and averages $9,000 in monthly revenue.
Diego Achio | Co-founder & CEO | achiodiego@traduality.com | (302) 250-0981
Tutorly.ai helps students spend less time on homework and more time learning. Tutorly’s AI powered coursework assistant gives students explanations to questions with direct references to their coursework. The coursework assistant has the capability to consume textbooks, homework, slides, lecture notes and exams while offering 24/7 support to students. Within five months, Tutorly.ai has gained 30,000 users, 1,500 paid subscribers and $9K in monthly recurring revenue.
Shariq Shah | Founder & CEO | shariq@tutorly.ai | (510) 857-6926
UPI Study offers online college courses for international students at a lower cost than traditional colleges. UPI Study’s pathway program then provides personalized 1:1 mentoring, helping students transfer up to 60 of those college credits toward a degree program at a university abroad. This reduces the cost of tuition and living expenses for students, and also provides universities with a larger international student pool. UPI Study has over 86,000 registered users and $450K in lifetime revenue.
Vikas Kaushal | Co-founder & CEO | international@upiglobale.com | (647) 809-5455
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About gener8tor
gener8tor is a global venture firm and accelerator network that supports startups, workers, employers, artists and musicians across race, place and gender. gener8tor partners with companies, governments, universities and nonprofits to operate programs and conferences in more than 41 communities across 22 states and two countries. Fast Company named gener8tor one of the Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2021 and 2022. The International Trade Council recognized gener8tor as the Global Venture Capital Firm of the Year in 2022.
About gener8tor Milwaukee
gener8tor Milwaukee invests $100,000 into each of five high-growth startups per cohort across all industries and business models. Accepted startups take part in the intensive 12-week, cohort-based accelerator program, which includes 1:1 coaching, mentorship-driven programming, $1M+ in deals and perks, and 100+ connections to the gener8tor network of mentors and investors.
