We’re excited to announce Cohort 3 of gener8tor's Great Lakes Innovation Accelerator! This U.S. Department of Commerce and NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration supported program provides $100,000 in non-dilutive funding to startups working to drive economic growth and technological advancement in the blue economy across the Great Lakes region. In 2025, this accelerator supported 10 startups and invested $1M into in non-dilutive capital - and we’re thrilled to continue that work this year with this new group. Meet the Cohort 3 startups: 🐶🐟 Archway Pet (Gabe Huertas del Pino): Building a scalable alternative protein business that tackles the Great Lakes’ invasive carp crisis by transforming it into premium pet treats and meals. 🚰🔁 Kadeya (Manuela Zoninsein and Denis Lussault): Revolutionizing workplace hydration with closed-loop stations that sanitize, refill, and eliminate single-use bottles. 🛶🤖 Lacuum (Amer Abughaida and Allison Bowman): Building an autonomous amphibious platform for water management - collecting better data and enabling autonomous treatment and cleanup. 🏖️🚦SwimSmart Technology (Jacob Soter): Modernizing beach safety with automated, real-time warning towers that provide clear alerts based on live conditions. 👕 🧼 Moby (Yoni Ronn): Helping businesses cut costs and reduce pollution by capturing microplastics at the source. This wouldn't have been possible without the help and support of Zack Baize (NOAA), our program partners - Cleveland Water Alliance (Bryan Stubbs Max Herzog), Michigan Tech Great Lakes Research Center & Great Lakes Observing System (Hayden Henderson & Shelby Brunner), and Northwestern Michigan College (Denver Peters) and 50+ venture funds, universities, and non-profits across the region. Stay tuned as we support this group over the coming months. The Great Lakes are a massive opportunity and this cohort is building the future! Dexter Artienda Ryan Jeffery Daisy Muñoz, AICP Soham Dalal, P.E. Samantha Schwartz #GreatLakes #WaterTech #ClimateTech #BlueEconomy #Startups #Innovation #gener8tor

We just wrapped up our first cohort a few weeks back and we are excited to announce that our second cohort for gener8tor's Great Lakes Innovation Accelerator is already underway! 🌊 The mission to back early-stage entrepreneurs developing innovative water technologies can’t stop — it has too much momentum to dam. 💧 Funded through the U.S. Department of Commerce and NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, this accelerators invests $100,000 non-dilutive and guides our founders through a 12 week long program intended to rapidly scale and commercialize their technologies. We are excited to welcome the following companies into our Fall 2025 Cohort: 💧 🔬 Nyad (Virginia Szepietowski & Christopher Braithwaite): The AI co-pilot for wastewater treatment, giving operators real-time biological insights and troubleshooting actions to help them manage their facilities more efficiently and affordably. 💧 💨 WAVR Technologies (Rich Sloan): Atmospheric water generation that pulls clean water from air — even at low humidity — for water-scarce regions and water-hungry industries. ⚡ 🌀 Rapid Radicals Technology, Inc. (Paige Peters & Dylan Waldhuetter): A containerized ozone-based chemical oxidation system that treats wastewater dramatically faster and more efficiently than traditional methods. 🚢 🤖 Mythos AI (Geoff Douglass & Dylan Sparks): AI-powered autonomous vessel navigation systems for defense and commercial shipping, addressing maritime labor shortages while improving safety. 💧 🧹 Rorra (Charlie Carlisle & Brian Keller): Designing and building highly effective and rigorously tested water filtration systems to help people live healthier lives. This wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of Zack Baize (NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration), our program partners – Cleveland Water Alliance (Bryan Stubbs, Max Herzog), Current (Alaina Harkness, Jonathan Goodell), Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Tech & Great Lakes Observing System (Hayden Henderson & Shelby Brunner), and Northwestern Michigan College (Ed Bailey, Jason Slade, and Denver Peters) – and 50+ venture funds, universities, and non-profits across the region. Dexter Artienda Daisy Muñoz, AICP Ryan Jeffery

We’re proud to celebrate the gBETA Grand Forks Spring 2026 Showcase 🚀 On Wednesday, May 6, founders, investors, operators, and community members gathered at The Olive Ann Hotel in Grand Forks to hear live pitches from four startups in our latest gBETA cohort. The evening reflected the momentum building across North Dakota’s startup ecosystem and the strong community supporting early stage founders in the region. This cohort includes: • MyCareLinq (Team: Min P.) – simplifying care coordination for families through an AI-powered platform • ReSpark Innovations LLC (Team: Rick Sugden II, CP2, Ryan Sikes, Ying Huang) – enabling real-time corrosion monitoring for pipelines and industrial infrastructure • DETECTOLOGY (Team: Nobuhiro Iwakura, Bappa Ghosh, Motoki Takaku) – enabling faster, more reliable cancer diagnostics by streamlining cell-free DNA extraction for liquid biopsies • YSISafe (Founder: Cedric Joel Yantio II) - building security infrastructure for autonomous AI agents interacting with crypto wallets Congratulations to the cohort that took the stage and shared their progress with the community. Thank you to 50 South Capital for supporting this program and helping create opportunities for founders to grow and scale. We’re also grateful to the Grand Forks community for showing up, engaging with founders, and continuing to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Looking forward to seeing what comes next for this cohort! #gBETA #Entrepreneurship #Startups #Innovation #GrandForks