gener8tor Partners With American Family Insurance To Launch Virtual Startup Accelerator
gener8tor gBETA Social Impact Economic Empowerment and Justice Reform Accelerator welcomes third cohort
MADISON, Wis. - Global venture firm and startup accelerator, gener8tor, in partnership with the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, kicked off the third gBETA Social Impact Economic Empowerment and Justice Reform cohort in September, focusing on early stage companies working in those industries.
gener8tor gBETA is a free seven-week, no-equity accelerator program that provides startup founders with intensive concierge coaching and access to its national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners and investors. The programs are designed to set a path for startups to participate in equity-based accelerator programs and investment opportunities.
gener8tor recruited startups nationally for the gBETA program in an effort to support homegrown companies. The participating companies in the Social Impact program are (Screecred, Binkey, Friend-a-Felon, Bluejay, and Layman). Learn more about the selected startups below.
“It is our mission to engage with innovative initiatives that are delivering people-centered solutions to society’s problems,” said Nyra Jordan, director for Social Impact Investment at American Family Insurance. “Supporting gBETA Social Impact enables us to provide access to world-class mentors that will accelerate the success of these enterprising startup founders.”
Together, the gBETA Social Impact Program aims to bring equitable access to growth and education nationally while also yielding economic growth in the surrounding communities.
“We’re thrilled to partner with American Family Insurance to bring these programs to life and bolster the social impact and justice tech industries nationwide,” said Claudius Taylor, gener8tor program manager. “We’ve seen the incredible economic impact of the gBETA program across the country, and we’re excited to bring that same impact to more innovative startups in this space.”
At the end of the gBETA program, startup founders will pitch their companies to investors, community partners and the public at a virtual showcase event at 5 p.m. CT on Dec. 6 via Zoom.
Startup companies and founders interested in learning more about gBETA’s programming and resources or applying to a future program are encouraged to visit the gener8tor gBETA website.
gBETA Social Impact Economic Empowerment & Justice Reform Fall 2022 Cohort
Screecred empowers marginalized communities to build credit by tracking and reporting their on-time auto insurance payments to TransUnion and Equifax. Screecred provides tracking and reporting of any recurring payments, low interest loans between family and friends, and access to free credit education. Screecred is in conversations with Nationwide, Statefarm and American Family to explore partnerships.
Charles Morgan: Co-Founder & CEO | Charles@screecred.com | Screecred.com
Binkey is "Paypal for your health." Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and Health Savings accounts (HSAs) are pre-tax accounts that were created to help people save on health expenses and fill gaps where insurance might fall short. However, inefficient processes and poor customer experience result in 50% of health benefit account holders forfeiting part or all their funds annually. By removing barriers to accessing these accounts, Binkey empowers over 95 million Americans to live healthier lives and makes healthcare more affordable and accessible. Binkey has begun the pre-launch onboarding process.
Obi Ohiaeri: Co-Founder & CEO | info@joinbinkey.com
Friend-a-Felon provides America's first and only comprehensive felony-friendly job marketplace, housing marketplace and reentry help desk app. Recidivism rates (those who return to prison after release) have been shown to dramatically decrease with employment, housing and other reentry services. Friend-a-Felon has over 2,000 users on its platform.
Sterling Braden-Dorsey: Founder & CEO | sb22@friendafelon.com
Bluejay changes the way police interact with the public using a two-sided platform. When being pulled over, the BlueJay app delivers the name of the officer, officer rating (based on other BlueJay user interactions), and the reason for being pulled over to the driver’s cell phone, plus the driver’s friends and family are notified that they are being pulled over. Bluejay’s proprietary platform is patent pending.
Curt Foster: Co-Founder & CEO | curt@bluejayapp.us
Layman is a legal empowerment network that arms working-class Americans with the tools, skills, and resources they need to lay civil actions pro se. Layman seeks to offer the 100 Million Americans who will face a legal crisis alone a marketplace of crowdsourced, targeted solutions. Layman completed the customer discovery process into this 12 billion dollar market in the NYU Startup BootCamp and GBeta Accelerator and is now prototyping an MVP.
Esosa Ohonba: Co-Founder & CEO | hello@laymans.app
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About gener8tor
gener8tor is a global venture firm and accelerator network that supports startups, founders, workers, employers, artists and musicians across race, place and gender. gener8tor partners with companies, governments, universities and nonprofits to operate programs 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.
About gBETA
gBETA is a non-equity accelerator that facilitates the growth of early-stage companies through a network-driven program. This accelerator supports five startups per cohort and requires no fees for startups and takes no equity. Since launching in 2015, gBETA accelerator alumni have raised more than $500M+ in capital and created more than 3,400+ jobs across the U.S. and Canada.
About The American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact
The American Family Institute is a venture capital firm and capacity building partner of choice for exceptional entrepreneurs and organizations who are engaged in an effort to close equity gaps in America. The Institute invests in companies and connects with groups working to provide economic empowerment and justice reform, to build resilient communities, to create healthy youth development and to increase learning and academic achievement. It is based in Madison, Wisconsin and can be found on social media @AmFamInstitute and at its website, www.amfaminstitute.com.
