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gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud Announces Spring 2021 Cohort

What to know about the gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud Spring 2021 cohort and the new Program Director:

  • gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud, a free, seven-week accelerator by gener8tor , is welcoming six startups to its Spring 2021 cohort (check out the full group below)
  • Participants in the program receive, “intensive and individualized coaching and access to gener8tor’s national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners and investors”
  • The program began on April 7 and will culminate with a virtual Pitch Night on June 8
  • gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud also announced the addition of Joe Sullivan as its new Program Director
    • Sullivan has experience in venture capital, ecommerce startups, and actuarial consulting

The Quote: Joe Sullivan, Program Director of gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud

“The amount of diversity in all areas – race, age, gender, industry experience and expertise – within this cohort is exciting. I am interested to see the collaboration and ideas that come out of this program. This cohort aligns perfectly with gener8tor’s mission to help communities invest in their best and brightest. All of the companies going through this cohort are addressing large societal problems in innovative ways.”

Here’s the lineup for the gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud Spring 2021 cohort (company information provided by the program). To learn more about the accelerator, read the full release at the bottom of this post.

Harmony Cricket Farms provides sustainable food products to meet the demands of growing populations in an environmentally conscious way while also catering to consumers that are eager for healthier choices. Harmony Cricket Farms helps to meet this demand one delightful bite at a time with a variety of crave-worthy foods. Harmony Cricket Farms has earned $4,000 in revenue this year with the launch of their first four products.

Founder: Tammy Mann | harmonycricket.farm

Hearing Glasses’ proprietary technology captions conversations in real time utilizing AR to display text three feet in front of the user. Hearing Glasses uses directional microphones and voice-to-text technology to provide equal opportunities to the deaf or hard of hearing without requiring dependency on outside assistance. Hearing Glasses has won $30,000 from multiple pitch competitions throughout the Midwest.

Founder: Kaitlyn Gloege

Impacks’ platform provides a simple, convenient way for families to purchase their school supplies online and partners with schools to help them fundraise. Impacks offers customized, prepackaged school supply kits at less than half the national average cost, and gives families an option to donate to their school. Impacks matches a portion of every donation. In less than one year, Impacks has sold almost 700 school packs, leading to over $30,000 in revenue and $6,000 in donations. 

Founder: Brandon Richards | myimpacks.com

Itiliti Health’s software helps healthcare payers ensure that care provided to their members is timely, helpful and necessary (prior authorization). Itiliti Health simplifies prior authorization by putting payer medical policies and rules at the center of their technology solution that increases transparency and reduces the administrative burden for payers and providers. Itiliti Health’s first solution, PA Checkpoint, has been fully deployed within a top BCBS payer, saving millions in annual administrative costs and improving care. 

Founder: Michael Lunzer | itilitihealth.com

REMastered Sleep offers the world’s first water bottle that reduces snoring and fatigue through exercise. REMastered’s proprietary water bottle, REMplenish, exercises the muscles related to snoring while you drink your water throughout the day To date, REMastered Sleep has sold nearly 400 units to consumers and healthcare professionals around the country.

Founder: Anders Olmanson | remasteredsleep.com

We Are Creators’ web application analyzes customers’ skin using a proprietary algorithm, delivering the perfect makeup products to users. We Are Creators helps people of color curate their ideal makeup collection that truly matches their skin. We Are Creators is currently constructing a core dataset for its platform.

Founder: Sanjana Pattanaik

CLOUD, MINNESOTA – Top-ranked startup accelerator gener8tor announced today the participants selected for its gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud Spring 2021 cohort and welcomed a new Program Director to lead. The six startups are all local to Minnesota and range from cricket-based food products to insurance technology.

gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud is a free, seven-week accelerator that works with startups for no fees and no equity. Each cohort is kept small, to ensure meaningful engagement with the gener8tor team, network and other resources. Participants receive intensive and individualized coaching and access to gener8tor’s national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners and investors. The program is designed to help startups gain early customer traction on their product or idea, and establish metrics that can make them competitive applicants for full-time, equity-based accelerators or seed investment.

gener8tor is also excited to welcome Joe Sullivan as Director of gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud. Sullivan comes to gener8tor with a strong business background previously working at a venture capital firm, an e-commerce start-up, and an actuarial consulting firm. Most recently, he spent his time as a fund accountant where he serviced multi-billion-dollar hedge funds. Sullivan also previously served as an associate at gener8tor for the gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud program. Sullivan will serve as the local conduit between the Greater MN St. Cloud startup ecosystem and the broader gener8tor network and programming, and will lead two cohorts of the gBETA program annually.

This Spring cohort was highly competitive with applications from around the Greater MN St. Cloud area. The program kicked off on Thursday, April 7, and the teams will work with the gBETA team over the course of seven weeks to meet mentors, gain customer traction and pitch to investors.

The public is invited to listen and learn more about these companies during the free Pitch Night to be held virtually at 5 p.m. on June 8. For more information, visit www.gbetastartups.com/greater-mn-st-cloud/pitch-night.

“The amount of diversity in all areas – race, age, gender, industry experience and expertise – within this cohort is exciting. I am interested to see the collaboration and ideas that come out of this program,” said Sullivan. “This cohort aligns perfectly with gener8tor’s mission to help communities invest in their best and brightest. All of the companies going through this cohort are addressing large societal problems in innovative ways.”

gBETA Greater MN St Cloud is sponsored by a community of partners that include Centra Care, Great North Ventures, Greater St. Cloud Development Corp., Granite Logistics, Central McGowan, Granite Equity Partners, Kensington Bank, Microbiologics, Moss & Barnette, PCI, College of St. Benedict St. John’s University, Schlenner Wenner & Co., St. Cloud Technical and Community College, Park Industries, Xcel Energy Foundation, St. Cloud State University, DeZurick Apco Hilton and GeoComm.

The program runs twice a year, working with companies across all industries and business models. Startups interested in applying for future programs should contact gBETA Greater MN St. Cloud Director Joe Sullivan at joe.sullivan@gener8tor.com. For more information, visit www.gbetastartups.com/greater-mn-st-cloud.

Alex Skjong
Alex oversees the content produced for BETA, Twin Cities Startup Week, and tech.mn. When he’s not writing or editing, there’s a good chance he’s enjoying a refreshing brew and explaining the merits of heavy metal (of which there are many).